Winlink node experiencing difficulty

The local Winlink Node (W5CWT-10), located at the Rusk County OEM office, has been experiencing some difficulties over the past month. The node is still active on 145.070 MHz but seems to have an attenuated signal on the transmitter side.

While we continue to diagnose the cause of the problem, you may experience difficulty connecting to the node. All signal reports are welcome. Simple email us the specifics, including your location to W5CWT-at-arrl.org.

Hospital repeater gets new mount

The antenna on the roof of EMTC Hospital in Henderson has been leaning a little for past year. After being upgraded and put on the air as the W5ETX's Henderson repeater by the ETECS Group in Tyler, a storm blew through and knocked it about 20 degrees off center.

This week, according to ETMC's facilities director and fellow ham, Thomas Moss, crews were on the roof working on another project and took advantage of the opportunity to straighten the antenna and re-secure it to the equipment building.

The repeater is currently off the air while the work is being done and Moss says he hopes to have it back up and running by early to mid April. The W5ETX repeater is linked by RF to other W5ETX repeaters in Tyler, Hawkins and Edom, providing easy coverage across most of East Texas.

N5L Special Event Station Planned

Rusk County amateurs are planning on commemorating the 80th Anniversary of the New London School Explosion with a special event station. Club members plan to operate the station (designated N5L) on March 18, 2017 from 8:00 am to 6 pm at the New London Museum. (Visit our Special Event Page for more details)

Thanks to the generosity and cooperation of the museum, the station will be operated from within the London Museum and Tea Room, across the highway from the school site. The station will run concurrently with events commemorating the 80th anniversary of the explosion. The station plans to be active on both SSB and PSK on the 40, 20 and 15 meter bands. We plan on erecting an antenna using a large tower already located at the site.

A QSL card and a Certificate will be available for all stations completing QSOs with N5L. To receive a printed QSL card, please send your own QSL card along with a SASE (at least 3.5" x 6") to "Attn: N5L QSL" and the club's address below. For a printed certificate, please send $1 and a SASE (at least 8.5" x 11") to "Attn: N5L Certificate" and the club's address below.

Skywarn Class set for February 28th

Rusk County residents will have an opportunity to refresh their storm-spotting skills (or learn them for the first time) this week.

The National Weather Service will be in Rusk County on Tuesday, February 28, 2017. 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.

RCARC February Monthly Meeting

The RCARC met tonight, Feb 23, 2017, and 9 members were present.

The special event on March 18, 2017 at the New London School Museum commemorating the 80th anniversary of the explosion was coordinated with the members to have a Special Event Station [N5L] for this day.

HAM Breakfast

Breakfast Get Together !
Join us this coming Saturday morning, Feb. 11, at Denny's for a HAM breakfast and fellowship.

We will meet at 9:00 a.m. at the Denny's in Henderson, TX. Bring your appetite and be ready to share some tall tails with fellow amateur radio operators!

Local Ham couple on Texas Reporter!

In case you missed it, here's a clip of an interview with John and Jo Ann Keith of Gilmer. It looks like the clip aired back in November, 2016.

John and Jo Ann are probably familiar faces and have been to our club on a number of occasions and talked about several topics, including the National Traffic System.

What you may not have known is how they met and how Ham Radio has kept them together! Enjoy!

The Rusk County Amateur Radio Club and family members will gather for a Christmas Dinner Thursday evening, December 22, starting at 6:30 p.m. at Sal's Italian Restaurant, in Henderson, Texas. Bring a big appetite and join us at Sal's for some great Italian food and fellowship!
The dinner is dutch treat so members and their families will pay for their own meal.

We will not have a business meeting in December, just the Christmas Dinner.

Sal's Italian Restaurant:

210 US Highway 79 S Henderson, Texas 75654
Phone (903) 657-8000

NTX Seeking Sec Manger Nominations

The ARRL's North Texas section is seeking nominations the Section Manager position. Nancy McCain was appointed in 2015 to serve out the unexpired term after the previous SM stepped down to due family and work demands. McCain sent out an email this week reminding members of the dates and noting that she is not a candidate for the position.

ARRL members may make find information on making a nomination by go to the ARRL website. It must be returned by close of business December 9, 2016. Ballots will be mailed in January.

McCain will complete the current term of office as North Texas Section Manager, which runs until March 31, 2017.

Got an opinion on the Tech exam?

If you have an opinion--good or bad--on any of the current technician exam questions, now is the time to speak up! The National Conference of Volunteer Examiner Coordinators (NCVEC) reviews the question pool every three years to makes updates and changes. The next update is scheduled for release in 2018.

According to the ARRL, the NCVEC's Question Pool Committee (QPC) is now seeking comments on the technician question pool. The QPC will accept comments and suggestions from the Amateur Radio community via e-mail through March 31, 2017 at qpcinput@ncvec.org.

The NCVEC QPC will take all comments and suggestions into consideration as it updates the Technician question pool for 2018-2022. Input from the Amateur Radio community may include suggestions for new questions, changes to the topic areas, or changes to existing questions in any of the current Amateur Radio examination question pools.