It’s picnic time! Make plans now to attend the PRC picnic this coming Monday, July 9th. As in recent years, we’ll be in the Pavilion at Day Park (Nike Park) on Sesquicentennial Road, off Pleasant Valley Road, just North of the swimming pool. The grill will be started around 5 pm and we’ll be there … Continue reading “PRC Picnic July 9th”
It’s picnic time!
Make plans now to attend the PRC picnic this coming Monday, July 9th. As in recent years, we’ll be in the Pavilion at Day Park (Nike Park) on Sesquicentennial Road, off Pleasant Valley Road, just North of the swimming pool. The grill will be started around 5 pm and we’ll be there til 8 or 9 depending on how chatty we get. The club provides the fire and grilling utensils. Just bring your preferred meal and drink and items to grill. While it’s not required, no one will mind if you bring a dessert to share.
We’ll try to keep an ear on 145.410 in case you get lost.
As always, the event is open to everyone, members and non-members. See you there.
Give our Net Controls a Break
Thanks to Chuck, K8CVM for the fine job he’s been doing as NCO on the FM net. Chuck had a couple of openings in his schedule and so he stepped up to help out. We are still in need of regular net operators, however. Contact me if you can give an hour a month to the cause.
Hal Rogers, K8CMD President, Communications Director
Field Day 2018 is history As anyone who participated in this year’s ARRL Field Day would say, this event was surely THE BEST. The threat of much rain was hardly worth concern. Yes we had a short, heavy shower but nothing to be concerned about. Those who were with us in 2015 couldn’t help but … Continue reading “PRC mtg July 2nd”
Field Day 2018 is history
PRC members erect an impressive mast for the HF G5RV.
As anyone who participated in this year’s ARRL Field Day would say, this event was surely THE BEST. The threat of much rain was hardly worth concern. Yes we had a short, heavy shower but nothing to be concerned about. Those who were with us in 2015 couldn’t help but compare this year to that torrential downpour. Our tent still proudly wears mud from that event.
Many thanks to all who contributed to making this Field Day a true success.
At our July 2nd meeting we’ll discuss the results of our radio operations and begin compiling our report for ARRL. At future meetings we’ll have photos and aerial video to share. If you took photos, please share them with me so that I can add them to our archive.
Vietnam Traveling Wall visits Parma
I hope that by now you have read or heard that the Vietnam Traveling Wall was visiting Parma and will be here through today, Sunday, July 1st. My family visited it Saturday evening and found it very moving. There will be a closing ceremony Sunday (today) at noon. Here’s the article that appeared in the Parma Sun.
Reprinted without permission from the Parma Sun Post.
Hal Rogers, K8CMD President, Communications Director
ARRL Field Day 2018 … moments away How can it be that ARRL Field Day (June 23-24) is almost here! And this next meeting on June 18th will be our final opportunity to go through our check list and make sure everything is in place. We hope you’ll be able to participate this year with … Continue reading “PRC mtg June 18”
ARRL Field Day 2018 … moments away
How can it be that ARRL Field Day (June 23-24) is almost here! And this next meeting on June 18th will be our final opportunity to go through our check list and make sure everything is in place. We hope you’ll be able to participate this year with any or all of the event. Field Day is June 23th, 2 pm to 2 pm on the 24th at Top O’ Ledges in the Hinckley Reservation of the Cleveland Metroparks. We’ll be setting up 10:00 am on Saturday and can use all the help we can get.
A printable map to our Field Day site:
Thanks to Tom Bedoc, K8DMM for drafting some press release documents to promote Field Day to the public.
It’s always good to hear new voices on the VHF/UHF 10 meter nets. These weekly on air events are a great way to stay in touch with fellow members and new people. If you’d like to participate in a very special way, we have openings for Net Control Operators. It a great opportunity to meet a fun group of people. A couple of slots are now available. Just let us know you’re interested. A convenient script is available, so you don’t have to ad lib unless you want to. You can always adlib.
In addition to the great camaraderie, participation in the nets can have other benefits. Recently, one of the net participants in the VHF/UHF net became the recipient of a vintage Hallicrafter’s SX-110 receiver that had been donated to the club.
A thought about the benefit of e-minders. Certainly you get early reminders of the upcoming meeting and the program topics. But there’s more! We also tell you about events of interest that you might not learn about otherwise. And if a meeting is cancelled, you’ll be advised early enough to avoid making an unnecessary trip only to find a locked door.
Bandconditions dot com is back
One of my favorite web sites is bandconditions dot com. This site gives a very accurate visual report on the current condition of your favorite HF band. Updated every 30 seconds, it’s all done thorough the magic of special algorithms “explained” on the site. A couple of weeks ago I was disappointed to go read on the site that they were in search of another server, since their Yahoo server could not handle their html2 data. The good news is they must have found a new server that meets their needs.
According to the owner, the world-wide site is extremely popular, and during a recent week saw 4 million users, with thousands of those being new users. It’s simple but beautiful. Check it out.
Hal Rogers, K8CMD President Communications Director
Good News The good news is that this will be a very brief post. As most of you have undoubtedly experience, with longer days, my activities have become more numerous. I don’t understand it but there must be an explanation. Time to get technical At our past meeting we discussed the technical problems that we … Continue reading “mtg June 4th”
Good News
The good news is that this will be a very brief post. As most of you have undoubtedly experience, with longer days, my activities have become more numerous. I don’t understand it but there must be an explanation.
Time to get technical
At our past meeting we discussed the technical problems that we experienced with some coax at our Earth Day Special Event. It wasn’t until too late that we realized the 40 meter rig had some faulty coax. We found one bad barrel connector but still had issues. It would be easy to just buy new coax but is that the what we really want to do? Some members thought it was giving up too easily. Perhaps we fix what we have. One of our members had a great idea – bring the coax into the upcoming meeting and check it out with an analyzer and dummy load. If it needs a repair we’ll fix it. Now that’s the spirit.
Why didn’t I think of that? So our June 4th meeting we’ll use the o coax problem as a learning experience with an actual workshop. We’ll have all the test gear we need to be certain our coax is in excellent shape for upcoming ARRL Field Day. We’ll also take a closer look at antenna analyzers and see some of the amazing things they can do.
In addition, we’ll discuss other critical matters related to our Field Day event – like our power source. It appears that the the solar panels we have used might not be available. Time for a plan.
Hal Rogers, K8CMD President, Communications Director
PRC’s 6th Earth Day another Success and Fun Many thanks to all who made our 6th annual Earth Day a very enjoyable event. We also had the opportunity to celebrate the club’s 70th anniversary with an attractive cake provided by Sara Marganski. All good reviews on the cake, for sure. While our 20 meter operation … Continue reading “PRC May mtg 21”
PRC’s 6th Earth Day another Success and Fun
PRC group celebrates Earth Day 2018 at Sterns Farm. Photo Courtesy Sun Papers
Many thanks to all who made our 6th annual Earth Day a very enjoyable event. We also had the opportunity to celebrate the club’s 70th anniversary with an attractive cake provided by Sara Marganski. All good reviews on the cake, for sure.
While our 20 meter operation went smoothly, our 40 meter station had coax connector problems. We’ll discuss this and other issues at our Monday, May 21st meeting.
We were quite fortunate to receive a visit from Kathy Kovach, writer for the Parma Sun Post who produced a very nice article in print and online for the April 23rd edition. Read/print the article at this link. Parma Sun Post
PRC Earth Day special event operation. Drone photo by Chuck Mehozenek, K8CVM
I have a lot of nice photos and videos to share with you at an upcoming meeting. Among them are terrific photos by Ken Osicki, K8OAR and some fascinating high flying drone videos and stills taken by Chuck Mehozenek, K8CVM.
Speaking of “high flying”, everyone had a wonderful time at wind turbine tour at Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds. Many thanks to Joanne Scudder of the Sustainability Center where we were given a thorough explanation of how the system works and saves the county thousands of dollars annually.
Joanne Scudder, explains the turbine system at the Sustainabillity Center
See you at the May 21st meeting where we’ll discuss our recent events and preliminary plans for field day.
Hal Rogers, K8CMD President and Communications Director
Earth Day Special Event Station Saturday April 21 Our 6th annual Earth Day special event operation is approaching. This year the event will be on Saturday, April 21st at Stearns Farm on Ridge Road, in the heart of Parma. Operation will be on HF and Ken Osicki, K8OAE will be tracking satellites communications. The event … Continue reading “Mtg April 16”
Earth Day Special Event Station Saturday April 21
Our 6th annual Earth Day special event operation is approaching. This year the event will be on Saturday, April 21st at Stearns Farm on Ridge Road, in the heart of Parma. Operation will be on HF and Ken Osicki, K8OAE will be tracking satellites communications. The event gives PRC members a wonderful opportunity to communicate with fellow hams and renew our mutual appreciation for this wonderful planet. We’ll be operating entirely on power from the sun.
This event will give us the first opportunity to celebrate the club’s 70th birthday and rumor has it that we’ll even have a birthday cake to make it official.
At our Monday, April 16th meeting we’ll discuss all the basics of our operational gear including antennas and more.
Wind Turbine Tour
Have you ever wanted to see one of those monster wind turbines up close? Now is your opportunity of a lifetime. This May 7th, PRC members and friends are invited to a fascinating tour of the wind turbine on the grounds of the Cuyahoga Fairgrounds.
Our tour will start at the indoor Sustainability Center (pictured below) which has interactive exhibits on wind and solar energy, a construction
video of the entire process, a live turbine data screen and a motorized nacelle (the generator housing). Feel free to ask any technical questions, the tour guides are very knowledgeable. You will also see the solar tracker which powers a pump in a cistern/ fountain on the West side of the bldg. While not required, those who wish to go out to the turbine may walk out with the tour guide to the machine and see the inside of the tower.
The Sustainability Center, Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds. Click to enlarge.
You can read more on the Fairgrounds web site, www.cuyfair.com. While on the site, go to the Renewable Energy Center, where you’ll find tons of info on their wind turbine project.
The tour is open to all members, family and friends. However, it’s absolutely important that you let us know how many will be in your party will attend. Please confirm as soon as possible and no later than April 30th. Write us at parmaradioclub@gmail.com
IMPORTANT: The tour meets at 6pm. You must enter the Fairgrounds from the main entrance on Bagley Road.
You’ll note that this is a regular meeting night for us at Busch Community room. The regular meeting has been cancelled. Instead, we’ll see you at the Fairgrounds.
Wind Turbine Tour Have you ever wanted to see one of those monster wind turbines up close? Now is your opportunity of a lifetime. This May 7th, PRC members and friends are invited to a fascinating tour of the wind turbine on the grounds of the Cuyahoga Fairgrounds. Our tour will start at the Sustainability … Continue reading “PRC April 6th”
Wind Turbine Tour
Have you ever wanted to see one of those monster wind turbines up close? Now is your opportunity of a lifetime. This May 7th, PRC members and friends are invited to a fascinating tour of the wind turbine on the grounds of the Cuyahoga Fairgrounds.
Our tour will start at the Sustainability Center which has interactive exhibits on wind and solar energy, a construction video of the entire process, a live turbine data screen and a motorized nacelle. Feel free to ask any technical questions. We will also take a look at our solar tracker which powers a pump in a cistern/ fountain on the West side of the bldg. Those who wish to go out to the turbine may walk out with me to the machine and check out the inside of the tower.
You can read more on their web site, www.cuyfair.com. While there go to the Renewable Energy Center, where you’ll find tons of info on their wind turbine project.
The tour is open to all members, family and friends. However, it’s absolutely important that you let us know how many will be in your party. Please confirm as soon as possible and no later than April 30th. Write us at parmaradioclub@gmail.com
IMPORTANT: The tour meets at 6pm. You must enter the Fairgrounds from the Bagley Road main entrance.
You’ll note that this is a regular meeting night for us at Busch Community room. The regular meeting has been cancelled. Instead, we’ll see you at the Fairgrounds.
China’s Tiangong-1 due to crash and burn on April 1st Tiangong-1, a Chinese space lab could plummet back to earth as early as Saturday, authorities say, in a fiery end to one of the country’s highest profile space projects. The 40-foot long Tiangong-1 or “Heavenly Palace,” is expected to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere between March … Continue reading “April 2nd”
China’s Tiangong-1 due to crash and burn on April 1st
Tiangong-1, a Chinese space lab could plummet back to earth as early as Saturday, authorities say, in a fiery end to one of the country’s highest profile space projects.
The 40-foot long Tiangong-1 or “Heavenly Palace,” is expected to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere between March 31 and April 1, according to the latest update from the European Space Agency.
The China Manned Space Engineering Office places the date of reentry a little later, between April 1 and April 2. Earlier estimates put the date as late as April 4. (CNN)
Ed. You can follow the final moments of Tiangong-1, a bus sized abandoned space station, on www.space.com and www.n2yo.com.
Earth Day special event day approaches
Our 6th annual Earth Day special event operation is approaching quickly. This year the event will be on Saturday, April 21st. Operation will be on HF and Ken Osicki, K8OAE will be tracking satellites communications. This event gives PRC members a wonderful opportunity to communicate with fellow hams and renew our mutual appreciation for our wonderful planet. be operating entirely on power from the sun.
At our Monday, April 2nd meeting we’ll discuss all the basics of our operation including gear, antennas and more. We’ve been confronted with some major changes from our past events, including our station location and availability of solar panel. Please plan to be on hand to contribute your ideas.
Have a wonderful Easter holiday.
Hal Rogers, K8CMD President, Communications Director
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Perhaps it was a veiled effort to “think Spring” but we took the opportunity at the recent meeting to discuss various methods of hanging wire antennas from our favorite antenna support – trees. While it seems like a simple task, there’s no shortage of failed attempt stories. To avoid duplicating past … Continue reading “Mar 19 mtg”
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Hal cleverly shows how trees move in the wind.
Perhaps it was a veiled effort to “think Spring” but we took the opportunity at the recent meeting to discuss various methods of hanging wire antennas from our favorite antenna support – trees. While it seems like a simple task, there’s no shortage of failed attempt stories. To avoid duplicating past errors we first discussed safety issues then proven methods such as slingshots, potato launchers even drones. We also covered methods to run support ropes and counter balance devices such as bungi cords and weights.
Rich and Jim demo the bungi tensioner.Tom checks out Hal’s modified slingshot.
Gary tests the drone approach to antenna hanging. Hey, this could work!
Mikes new workbench!
Vice President Mike Marganski, KE8HBK, has shown himself to be quite a wood worker with this beautiful new production. The bench is constructed of standard 2×4 shaved down to make the bench surface nice and flat. The well-designed sturdy bench was then finished with a clear protective coat. Mike says he plans to use the new bench for his test equipment.
March 19th meeting
Following a brief business meeting on March 19th we’ll work on finalizing the 2018 program schedule. Thanks to all who have assisted with the project. Afterward, it we’ll make plans for our Earth Day special event operation at Stearns Farm.
2018 ‘Breeze Shooters’ Hamfest is gearing up
The ‘Breeze Shooters’ will once again be having their Hamfest on June 2 and June 3, 2018 – This will be our 64th Annual Event. This year we are again pleased to have been chosen to host the ARRL – WPA Section Convention. Presenters from the ARRL will be there. As in the years past, we are offering to the local radio clubs in Pennsylvania,Ohio,Maryland,New York,District of Columbia and West Virginia: (2)- Free Admission Tickets to our Hamfest at our newest location: The BIG Butler Fairgrounds, on US Rt. 422 in Prospect,PA (north of Pittsburgh) These can be given as a ‘drawing prize’ at your April or May, 2018 club meeting. This is one way we advertise our Hamfest and welcome members from other clubs to attend. OFFER IS LIMITED TO (2) Tickets per club and request must be received by April 30, 2018.
(Editor: Be the first to request tickets and they’re yours.)
Contributor needed
With the hamfest season just ahead we’re looking for a someone to contribute a list of the 2018 events for publishing on this site. Please contact me if you wish to help.
FM2M2– Ohio 2 Meter FM Simplex Squares Contest
Sponsored by The Cuyahoga Fall Amateur Radio Club
A contest for all hams in Ohio!
● All you need is a 2M FM HT or mobile radio and a simple antenna to compete for prizes and certificates; yes even a cheap HT will do.
● The contest is 10 hours total, two 5 hour windows each on April 7th & 8th 2018.
● Use 2 Meter FM Simplex communication to contact as many other stations and grid squares in Ohio as possible.
● Anyone sending in a log with at least one valid contact is eligible to win prizes, but the more contacts you make the better your odds of winning. There will also be certificates for leaders in a variety of categories.
The PRC, Celebrating 70 years and going strong thanks to good members like you Join the PRC for Earth Day 2018 The PRC will kick off Earth Day 2018, with our 6th annual special event station, on Saturday April 21st at Stearns Farm. While actual Earth Day is on Sunday, we couldn’t wait. So please … Continue reading “Mar 5th mtg”
The PRC, Celebrating 70 years and going strong
thanks to good members like you
Join the PRC for Earth Day 2018
The PRC will kick off Earth Day 2018, with our 6th annual special event station, on Saturday April 21st at Stearns Farm. While actual Earth Day is on Sunday, we couldn’t wait. So please make plans to join us as we warm up the HF bands. We’ll have more information as the date approaches. Check the April QST Special Event page.
Thanks to VP Mike Marganski, KE8HBK and all who participated at the past meeting. Your suggestions for upcoming programs are extremely helpful. It’s the very best way to insure that our club meets your unique needs and interests.
Time to think about hanging that new antenna
This time of year don’t have to listen long on the ham bands before someone mentions the antenna they want to put up “when the weather breaks”. It’s no wonder the March QST is always dedicated to that popular topic. One particular article caught my eye in which a couple of hams describe their high tech method of hanging a wire antenna in a tree. I’ve heard the idea mentioned by wishful dreamers, but these guys actually used a drone!
At our Monday meeting we’ll talk about the drone approach and see how practical it really is. Like most adventures, there are some things to consider before taking the first step. Then we ‘ll review more down to earth methods that have served us well. If you’ve not hung your first antenna or have experiences (or cautions) to share, you’ll enjoy this meeting.
We’ll have a couple of informative videos, an actual drone system for you to see as well as the home made antenna launcher I’ve used with success. If you have a tool to show or discuss, please pitch in.
“Your license has expired.”
Those are quite scary words that you can avoid by belonging to ARRL. It happened to me once and I always regretted the lapse. Fortunately, I discovered the oversight while I was still in the grace period. With the 10 year license term it’s easy to let the expiration date slip by. My license was due to expire May 2018 and that’s why it’s been boldly noted on every calendar I have. I was surprisingly pleased to receive a letter from ARRL of the upcoming event — a wonderful benefit from ARRL and they make it easy to renew your license. They include a form for you to complete and then forward it to the FCC.
While it was a major thrill to receive that first license in June of 1961, it was a pleasant surprise to receive an email and printable Official Copy of my renewed license. This one expires in 2028. I must make a note.
Hal Rogers K8CMD, President, Communications Director
we’ll be in the Pavilion at Day Park (Nike Park) on Sesquicentennial Road, off Pleasant Valley Road, just North of the swimming pool. The 
grill will be started around 5 pm and we’ll be there til 8 or 9 depending on how chatty we get. The club provides the fire and gril
ling utensils. Just bring your preferred meal and drink and items to grill. While it’s not required, no one will mind if you bring a dessert to share.
Vice President Mike Marganski, KE8HBK, has shown himself to be quite a wood worker with this beautiful new production. The bench is constructed of standard 2×4 shaved down to make the bench surface nice and flat. The well-designed sturdy bench was then finished with a clear protective coat. Mike says he plans to use the new bench for his test equipment.