Slides are available here:  Tactical Call Signs.

For our advanced class in March 2022, we took advantage of a very good presentation given by RATPAC.  The presentation was Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation, Measuring the Ionosphere with Amateur Radio.

In the presentation, given by Dr. Nathaniel A. Frissell (W2NAF), who is a Space Physicist at the University of Scranton.  Dr. Frissell discussed how space weather (by which we mean mostly solar output, flares, sunspots, etc.) affect the ionosphere layers and, by extension, HF communications.  He first showed how existing ham radio resources, the Reverse Beacon Network, WSPRnet, and PSKreporter have been collecting information about propagation of radio waves and the condition of the ionosphere.  He then discussed several projects that are in progress to allow ham radio operators to build/implement and operate their own personal space weather observatories, and how to contribute that information to scientific research.

This was a bit more advanced than many of the topics we have covered, but provided great insight into how the ionosphere works, how HF radio propagation works, and how space weather impacts our communications on the HF bands (and others).

While we did not record the class ourselves, this presentation, and all of the other RATPAC presentations, are available online for your viewing pleasure.  See the links above for more information.

Presentation Download (PDF):  Winlink Overview

VARA Notes:

As I mentioned in the discussion, the ARES LAX group is currently doing a group buy of VARA.  The final terms came in at $55 per license based on the 57 or so people that had signed up.  If you are interested in participating, please visit https://forms.gle/qEvCebWNfXV963Yx7 and sign up.  Even if they execute this group buy before you do, you will be on the list for the next group buy.

Links mentioned in the presentation for convenience:

• https://www.winlink.org/
• http://wavetalkers.com/
• Winlink Client Programs
  • https://www.winlink.org/WinlinkExpress - Winlink Express
  • https://www.outpostpm.org/index.php - OutPost
  • http://www.siriuscyber.net/ham/ - AirMail
  • https://woad.sumusltd.com/ - WoAD
  • https://getpat.io/ - Pat
  • https://www.winlink.org/Paclink - Paclink
  • https://github.com/nwdigitalradio/paclink-unix/ - Paclink Unix
• Interfacing your radio with your computer
  • https://www.tigertronics.com/ - SignaLink
  • http://www.db.net/~db/hownotto.pdf
  • http://audiosystemsgroup.com/HamInterfacing.pdf
• AREDN
  • https://www.arednmesh.org/
  • http://utmesh.com/
  • https://www.murrayarc.org/2020/04/09/training-class-mesh-networking/
• VARA
  • https://rosmodem.wordpress.com/

Jan (KD7ZWV) briefs us on cross-band repeating, what it is, why we use it, how to set it up, and some caveats and gotchas about its use.  There was significant discussion at the end of the presentation, too, that was very worthwhile.

Download a copy of the presentation here.

Some links mentioned in the presentation are included here for ease of access:

• https://www.qsl.net/wb3gck/cbr.htm
• http://utahvhfs.org/simpfreq1.html
• http://utahvhfs.org/freqfaq1.shtml#crossband_repeaters
• https://forums.qrz.com/index.php?threads/list-of-v-u-radios-that-cross-band-repeat.535395/ (QRZ.com login is required to view this link)
• https://www.jpole-antenna.com/2014/05/01/cross-band-repeater-operation/

Jan briefed us on various types of ham radio nets and on the message passing procedures and protocols of the NTS (National Traffic System).

Jan (KD7ZWV) briefs us on the FCC Rules and Regulations and how they apply to our radios, particularly the inexpensive Chinese radios that are so popular these days.

Okay, we didn't really have an advanced topics meeting this week.  Instead, several of us got together at the repeater site and helped clean up the area.  This mainly involved removing trash and getting rid of weeds and other overgrowth.  Pictures of the event have been added to the Club Repeaters page.

We had a different kind of meeting today.  In lieu of training, we discussed several things that will be affecting the club moving forward.

For starters, we used the new Murray repeater located at the Murray Animal Shelter for our check-in net this evening.  The repeater sounded great and nearly all checkins were totally clean and full quieting.  Please take a look at our Club Repeaters page for more information about the new repeater.  While this repeater has a power output of only 40W, it has an effective radiated power of around 300W due to the gain antenna and the antenna's placement at the 180 foot level of the tower that was on this site.  This repeater provides an excellent resource for 1.25m communications across the entire Salt Lake valley.

To show our thanks for Murray City for sponsoring this repeater, Dan (N7XDL) proposed that we take our next scheduled club meeting next week, 13 May 2021, starting at 6:30 PM and meet at the repeater site to clean up the area.  Please bring weed whackers, rakes, work gloves, saws, and whatever else you think you might need to help out.  Dan will be sending out an announcement via e-mail to the club membership regarding this scheduling change.  I will be deferring my discussion of the legal ramifications of our favorite Chinese radios until the following week's general club meeting.

Dan was also talking with Joey (KI7BQM), who is the Murray City emergency manager and our fire department representative.  Joey informs us that Murray City will be adding some amateur radio equipment to the city owned communications truck, including a dual band antenna mounted on the extendable mast.  We will do a little presentation on that vehicle at a later date.

Murray City has also started their CERT training again, and will be putting on a special class for MARC members.  There will be no charge for this training, which will consist of five sessions, typically about two hours each.  Personal equipment for CERT response will also be available for purchase, but is not required.  Additional information about this series of classes will be made available when it gets a little closer.

On to a more personal note, Dan, our fearless leader and the founder and president of MARC has been selected to be the new Salt Lake County ARES Emergency Coordinator.  Dan expects this to take quite a bit of his time and is concerned about impacts it may have on the operation of MARC.  He will be sending out several surveys over the next couple of weeks to get feedback from the club membership about how this should be handled, including things such as a change in the board of MARC and who and how the monthly training sessions will be handled going forward.

Please watch for these surveys and respond in a timely fashion.

Thanks to everyone who participated in tonight's meeting.  We had sixteen people in attendance, which, while not a new record, is still a good turnout.  We would love to see some of the less active members start attending these Zoom sessions until such time as we are able to meet in person again.

Dan (N7XDL) briefs us on various modulation modes, with a quick look at bands and the physics of radio waves, to boot.

Here's the presentation:  AMATEUR RADIO MODES

Slides:  IRLP_and_EchoLink
Link to the IT Crowd episode referenced in the presentation:   https://youtu.be/iDbyYGrswtg

Links from the presentation:

• http://www.irlp.net/ - main IRLP page
• http://status.irlp.net/index.php?PSTART=7 - IRLP search page
• http://status.irlp.net/index.php?PSTART=2 - IRLP reflectors
• http://www.utaharc.org/rptr/irlp_info.html - Lake Mtn. IRLP node (UARC)
• http://utahvhfs.org/rptr.html - Utah VHF Society repeater list (search for I and E nodes)
• http://utahvhfs.org/cgi-bin/rptdtl.cgi?Nr=117 - Marty's Butterfield Peak IRLP node
• https://secure.echolink.org/ - main EchoLink page
• https://secure.echolink.org/validation/ - help with EchoLink validation
• https://secure.echolink.org/validation/uls/ - downloading your official license copy from the FCC (Universal Licensing System - ULS)
• https://secure.echolink.org/logins.jsp - active EchoLink systems
• https://secure.echolink.org/firewall_solutions.htm - help with firewall issues
• http://www.pa7lim.nl/peanut/ - Peanut system mentioned in chat by Chris (W7CHP)