Radio books donated to Rusk Co. Library

The Rusk County Amateur Radio Club donated 11 new books to the Rusk County Library on Thursday. The books, worth more than $250, cover a variety of topics including basic electronics, antenna designs, radio frequency interference and amateur radio satellites.

A copy each of the American Radio Relay League's Handbook for Radio Communications and the Antenna Book for Radio Communications, both large reference-style books, were also given to the library.

The club voted to donate the books in order to promote electronics knowledge and skills and increase the awareness of the role amateur radio operators play in public service and emergencies.  The books can be checked out or requested at any of the library's four locations in the county.

The club also donated study guides for each of the three levels of amateur radio licensee exams required by the F.C.C. The guides cover material in the Technician, General and Extra level exams. After using the guides, a prospective "Ham" can contact the club for help in scheduling an official testing session.

Several club members were on hand to deliver the books and the library's assistant director, Michelle Zenor, accepted them on behalf of the library.

East Texas Net now heard in Rusk Co.

Rusk County amateurs now have the ability to check into the East Texas Emergency Communications Service's monthly training net. The ETECS net is called on the last Monday of each month at 7:00 PM on the W5ETX linked system repeaters which includes the new repeater recently installed on ETMC's facilities in Henderson.

The net's agenda includes check-ins, announcements and training pertinent to EmComm operations. ARRL radiogram traffic and digital traffic using various modes of the Narrow Band Emergency Messaging Software (NBEMS) may also be handled during the net.

The net can be heard on any other linked repeaters, including:

• Tyler on the “210” repeater (145.210 – 136.5),
• In Henderson and Rusk County on the  “92” repeater (146.920 – 136.5),
• In Hawkins on the “24” repeater (147.240 + 88.5) and
• In Edom and Van Zandt County on the (146.620 –  136.5).

For more information about ETECS, visit their website.

Tyler Hams plan digital net on Sundays

The fldigi program is a free.

Several Tyler hams will begin holding a digital-mode net on Sunday evenings at 9 pm starting on February 21. The net is currently planned to be held on 10 meters, 28.123 MHz dial frequency, USB digital (1500 Hz audio--28.124.5 MHz rf--center frequency).

The first mode to be tried is a new mode called FSQ (Fast Simple QSO). This mode is available in the most recent versions of fldigi beginning in version 3.23. (User manual available here)

Not sure how well (or even if) Rusk County hams will be able to here them, but it's worth a try. The regular SSB net starts at 8 pm on 28.365 MHz. Then stick around at 9 pm as they move down the band to 28.123 MHz (+-) for digital.

The full details are available on the Tyler ham club's page.

Friends help new ham get on the air

Dana (AG5DA) got a little help from his friends this week. The guys, also members of the RCARC, help put up a 30-foot tower at Dana's house and stick a Comet GP-9 on top.

Craig, who is not that fond of heights, admitted it was a little harrowing at times. But in the end, Dana was able to get a nice signal out and sounded great on the repeater during the weekly net. In the shack, Dana uses a Kenwood TM-V71A dual band transceiver powered by an Astron VS-35M power supply.

He notes that he's "still got work to do such as grounding, but I am up and running!" He also adds that he "wouldn't have it running without Craig, Ken, and Eric!  It was done right thanks to those guys."

New Tech License Course set for April

The Rusk County Amateur Radio Club will offer a Technician's license course to help non-hams earn their entry-level Technician License over three Saturdays in April. The course dates are set for April 16, 23, and 30.

Club members will present the study material in a fun and interactive way that will help students remember everything they need to pass the exam. Participants will also get a change to actually use radio equipment, send email via radio and practice their new skills.

Volunteer Examiners will be on hand for students to take their test at the end of the final class time. For more details on the course, visit our Technician Course page.

New NTX Emergency Coordinator named

Matthew Morris, K5ICR, has been appointed to the position of Section Emergency coordinator.  He may be reached at: K5ICR@arrl.net or by phone at 940-441-7220.

Matthew is currently in the Masters Public Administration program at the University of North Texas. His background in public safety includes active reserve deputy sheriff, assistant fire chief and in EMS.

Please join us in welcoming him to this position. I look forward to working with him for the future growth of North Texas ARES.

Nancy McCain - K5NLM
Section Manager - North Texas

Skywarn Class set for February 2nd

Rusk County residents will have an opportunity to refresh their storm-spotting skills (or learn them for the first time) in February. The National Weather Service will be in Rusk County on Tuesday, February 2, 2016. The class will run from 6 pm - 9 pm at the Rusk County Sheriff's Department Training Room, 210 W Charlevoix St, in Henderson. (Click link for a map).

The free training will include both Basic and Advance level training sessions and is open to the public. Hams, along with local EMS, firefighters and first responders are encouraged to attend.  Rusk County Office of Emergency Management is organizing the classes, so if you plan to attend, please RSVP emailing Patrick Dooley at patrick.dooley[at]ruskcountyoem.org so he can get a head count.

Relive the history of American Radio

Ever had the desire to step back in time and relive some of the golden years of radio? There's a cool website that features thousands of radio magazines from the back 100 years.

American Radio History has a website filled with magazines about radios, engineering, broadcasting and much more. Each magazine has been scanned in and even run through OCR technology to convert the pages into real text. That means you can search all the issues at once with a single search window!

Did you listen to WOR or WGN back in the day? They've got station books and written histories of these station and many more. Whether you're interested in the broadcast industry, engineering and electronics, early radio or DX and listening, they've got something you'll enjoy. They've even got 70 years of Billboard magazine!

Check out the entire collection at www.americanradiohistory.com.

6 Meter Opening

This Thursday evening, following the 146.780 net I checked the www.dxmaps.com site to see what was going on on 6 Meters and HF. Low and behold there was a pretty good 6 Meter opening going on. I tuned to 50.125 MHz and sure enough there was a station calling CQ!

After tuning around a bit I managed to work a station in Nashville Tennessee, and one in East Rochester, Ohio. As luck would have it I got a phone call about that time and by the time I got off the call the band had quietened down. I worked these two stations off of my 160 meter delta loop, which happens to tune 6 Meters pretty well. Kinda makes me wish I had a 6 Meter Yagi for these little quick band opening!

73, and keep an eye on the Magic Band, you never know when it might pop open!

Keith
KN5G

Having a little PSKFest with the 991

FT-991 during the PSKFest

by Dave (W5CWT) One of the pleasures of the new year, is the PSKFest hosted by the PODXS 070 Club! The event is held on the first Saturday of the year and causes the digital bands to light up like fireworks.

This year, I put my new FT-991 to the test and came away with just over 40 contacts. I only worked about 2 1/2 hours during the day, so, I was pleased. The 991 performed flawlessly.

One nice thing about the PSKFest is the automated scoring system. Simply export your QSOs to an ADF file and upload them to the scoring program. It instantly shows you your results and as well as updates the overall contest results. Check out the 2016 PSKFest live results page here.

If you dabble in PSK, mark your calendar for next years event. In the mean time, consider joining the 070 club. It's completely free and they send you cool stickers to note your PSK accomplishments. To join, simply make 100 PSK31 contacts and then send them your log. Find out more on the 070 website.