Welcome to HCRA

Author: Webmaster

  • Show and Tell – April 2016

    ShowAndTell2016

    HCRA’S SHOW AND TELL 2016
    – Friday April 1st, 2016 –

    THIS IS NOT A JOKE!

    The Hampden county radio association will be holding its annual show and tell on Friday, April 1st, 2016. This is where HCRA members can show off their amateur radio related projects. If you’ve been working on something over the months, bring it to April’s meeting and share it with other members and the general public. If you project was fascinating enough, you might walk away with prize!

    If you haven’t started on a project by now, don’t worry. You still have 4 months to work on project which is plenty of time to create something wonderful.

  • HOLIDAY PARTY TICKETS AVAILABLE!!

    HolidayPart15voidtix

    Tis the season for Holiday Parties. This year HCRA and MTARA are putting together quite the feast for those who would wish to join us. We will be back at the wonderful steaming tender in Palmer MA on Monday, December 7th, 2015. Doors open at 6, Dinner starts at 7. Tickets will be just $20ea. You can purchase tickets through HCRA or MTARA.

    There will be good times had by all and we will even have door prizes!

    For HCRA, you can contact Harold Woering (N1FTP) ( E-mail N1FTP at arrl dot net)
    You can also mail a check or money order to our P.O. Box

    HCRA
    P.O. Box 562
    Agawam MA, 01001

    Please include note that you are purchasing Holiday tickets and to include Name, Callsign and phone number for each ticket.

    Hope to see you there!

    What: Joint HCRA/MTARA Holiday Party
    When: Monday, December 7th, 2015
    Where: Steaming Tender Resturant
    28 Depot St, Palmer, MA 01069
    Time: Doors open at 6pm, Dinner at 7pm

  • Notes From Last Nights Meeting (DMR W/ Steve WA1ZEV)

    Digital Mobile Radio Presentation

    (Presenter:  Steve Shore WA1-ZEV, October 2, 2015 Hamden County Radio Association)

    **  Reference Material **

     

    DMR Orientation:

    Network Providers:

    • DMR-MARC (Motorola Amateur Radio Club)
    • CT-ARES DMR Network (State of Connecticut State Police Amateur Radio Club)
    • DCI (Digital Communications Interconnect)

    Popular Web Sites:

    DMR Repeater Status Web Sites:

    Radio Brands:

    Network Categories:

    *Local          *Audio Test           *Statewide         *Regional          *North America          *Worldwide

    Basic Programming Data:

    1. Frequency pair
    2. Time Slot (1 or 2)
    3. Color Code
    4. Talk Group

     

    Digital Mobile Radio Presentation

    (Presenter:  Steve Shore WA1-ZEV, October 2, 2015 Hamden County Radio Association)

    **  Reference Material **

    Page  2.

    Getting Started

    Getting started with DMR is easy! Just follow the four steps below and you’ll be up and running in no time!

    1. Check for DMR Coverage

    Verify that you are within the coverage area of a DMR repeater using the DMR repeater map, or if you are in the Greater Toronto Area, check out the interactive repeater coverage map.

    2. Get a Subscriber ID

    All radios on ham radio DMR networks require a unique Subscriber ID, so you will need to have one assigned before you can program your radio to operate on a DMR repeater. If you intend to have more than one DMR radio active at any given time, then you should request a Subscriber ID for each radio.

    Apply for a Subscriber ID

    Within about 24 hours, you should receive your Subscriber ID via email. Please do not transmit with your DMR radio until you have received a Subscriber ID and have this programmed into your radio. Using ad-hoc Subscriber ID numbers will cause conflicts with other users on the network.

    3. Obtain a DMR Radio

    Obtain a DMR radio, the programming software and cable (if required for your desired radio model) from one of the sources listed on the FAQ page.

    4. Program your DMR radio

    Program your DMR radio using the DMR repeater specifications found on the DMR repeater map by clicking on DMR repeaters in your local area, plus the Subscriber ID you received via e-mail. If you are in Canada, we have preconfigured radio programming files for the most popular DMR radio models that contain all Canadian DMR repeaters. Otherwise, please refer to the following programming tutorial for step-by-step programming instructions.

    5. When all else fails or you need assistance, e-mail  Steve (WA1-ZEV)

  • Next Meeting is Friday, September 4th 2015

    Welcome to a new season of HCRA

    Larry (W1AST) has been hard at work obtaining guest speakers for the upcoming season. The guest speaker for the first meeting of the season on Friday, September 4th will be Fred Stefanick (N1DPM). He will be discussing EME communications and how you don’t necessarily need a massive array of antennas to make it possible. We will also have a quick re-cap of Field Day and some other business.

    It’s also that time of the year again for membership renewals.
    Our online system for renewals only is open for anyone that would like to use either their paypal account or their credit card if they would like to renew online.
    Or you can download, and mail in the application
    We also have our annual 250 ticket raffle going on. This year we’ve stepped it up a bit. We’re raffling off a Kenwood TS-590SG HF-6M 100w base station rig (retails $1700). It’s a very excellent rig that rivals radios that are double the price. It could be possibly yours for just $10 which goes to help out HCRA.
    Stay tuned…

  • HCRA’s 250 Raffle – Win A Kenwood TS-590SG

    Win A Kenwood TS-590SG

    ts-590sgraffle

    Tickets Just $10 EA

     

    It’s that time for the Hampden County Radio Associations (HCRA) annual raffle. This year the board of directors wanted to raffle off a 100w base station transceiver. The Kenwood TS-590SG ($1700 Retail) was the perfect choice because it’s a very excellent radio packed with features that rival radios that cost much more. It’s an HF-6M 100W with 32bit DSP that has excellent receiver according to sherwood engineering. Some of the features include

    • Auto Tuner
    • On Screen CW decoding
    • HF and 6M Antenna Jacks
    • Programmable Functions
    • 500hz / 2.7kHz  Roofing Filters
    • DSP AGC
    • USB Port
    • Noise Reduction
    • Down Conversion

    HCRA has printed 250 tickets. Due to the price of the item, HCRA has put a limit on the minimum amount of tickets that can be sold before the raffle is allowed to take place. If the minimum amount has been reached, the item will be raffled at the Mount Tom Amateur Repeater Association’s Ham Fest in 2016. We’re asking $10 for each ticket.

    Tickets will be available at HCRA meetings, VE Sessions at Holyoke Medical Center, Field Day, Selected area Hamfest/Fleamarkets and through the board of directors.

  • Mar 12th Board Meeting Minutes

    Meeting Started 7:15

    VP W1MOR Report.  Nothing to report

    TREASURER AA1YW Report.  Balance $9095.  KX3 profit $781.22.  Christmas party cost $931, Used 40 meter beam cost $200, Donation HMC $250, Donation Agawam Park and Rec $250

    SECRETARY – WM1B : Any Business.  Paper work up to date

    MEMBERSHIP N1KXR Head count 102 members

    TECHNICAL K1YO Report.  Online tech time- waiting for participants.  Assist WM1B with antenna when weather a little better.  Assist KA1DDv with headset wiring.

    PROGRAM W1AST Who is our next speaker? High Altitude Ballooning – Larry Palmer (NW1X).  Speaker for may secured

    AT-LARGE NT1K.  Outstanding Job at the Flea!  Working on welcome packets for the new hams from the VE sessions.  Ericand Larry to assist.  Web site up to date, New button for FD 2015.  In process of creating a New member form for the web site.

    ZB WA1MOW Dead line date? 3/27.  Want copy of database for e-mail addresses.

    TO DO LIST: 

    Organize slate of officers

    Pres – NT1K
    VP – Open
    Treasurer – Juergen NV1Q
    Secretary – WM1B
    Membership – Open
    Technical – K1YO
    Program – Open
    At Large – W1MOR
    ZB – WA1MOW

    FD 2015

    Jeff had sent out a wake up a while ago.  Now we need to start acting.

    Need to definitely have a test and tune day.  We have all new antennas to us, and FD is not the time to guess. The trailer is at AA1YW’s and the other 40 meter beam is at W1MOR’s.

    I Sent an e-mail to MTARA about selling us a AB577.  If not then we need to borrow one.  Frandy?  Steve (N1SR)?,MTARA?

    We need to start getting operators, band captains, and set up crew organized.

    The park is secured.  Not sure on the usage of the new band shell or power.  There is a nice pavilion there but not sure about the usage of that either.  I will talk to Chris about these in the next month.

    Should there be a FD committee or should it be the board? There should be its own committee

     NEW BUSINESS

    Jeff NT1K mentioned about the club building another antenna.  This time it would be a Stub J Pole AKA, OSJ pole.  For a fee of $35 he would supply the materials for you to build.

    Next BOD meetings:

    Both at the IHOP in West Springfield
    May 7th
    June 11th

    Meeting ended 8:45

     

    Respectively Submitted
    Ed KB1NWH

  • HCRA Trailer Day

    This past weekend some of your HCRA BOD members were hard at work getting the trailer in ready for field day!

    20150517_132138

    We’ve took almost everything out the trailer and made note of any damaged or missing items. We also partially assembled one of two WRTC TX-38 antennas that we’ve purchased to get a general idea of how it will be assembled. Even though there are a lot of parts, it’s not really that bad.

    Over the winter HCRA has acquired another 40 meter 2 element beam that is the same make and model as the one we already have. Since we’ve moved to school street park, we’ve been using  40m beams on both CW and SSB but we’ve always had to borrow the 2nd beam. Now we have two beams.

    20150517_132144

    The beam has seen better days however but the traps are decent shape and there is no major damage other than crack in one of the support arms that doesn’t effect the antenna. The antenna also has rusted and missing U-bolts. We lightly sanded the antenna, assembled as much as we could and tested the driven element.

    20150517_132135

     

    We hoisted the driven element up into a tree and hooked it up to an analyzer

    Screenshot_2015-05-17-13-19-22Results are not bad considering the testing conditions. Once the replacement parts show up, I think we will have a decent beam to add to our stock. We will no longer have to beg people to use their antennas as we’re now fully stocked

    The AB-577 towers

    For many years whenever we needed to put up a fourth tower, we’ve always had to ask a club member to use their personal AB-577. Since we’re now located at School Street Park in Agawam, having a 4th tower is important due to the lack of trees with the height for a 40 or 80m wire antenna. This year proved quite difficult to obtain a 4th tower so we thought we should purchase one. Thankfully the Mount Tom Amateur Repeater Association (MTARA) had an AB-577 they were willing to sell. We’ve since picked it up and it’s now with the other AB-577s we have in stock. It’s in really good condition with no work needed. This means we no longer have to beg people to use their tower. If there were ever a situation other than Field Day where we would have to set these up, it will much easier to deploy and we would hopefully have enough.

    Overall the day went well. Other than a couple broken bolts/clamps, the list is quite small. We now have a better understanding of the TX-38s and having the 4th AB-577 made things much better and easier.

    If you’re going to be in the Agawam Area on the weekend of June 27th, please stop by school street park and say hello. We’re also looking for volunteers to help with setup, operating and teardown. Without volunteers, Field Day at School street park will not be possible. So please check out the Field Day page for more information.

    Hope to see you there!

    – Jeff (NT1K
    HCRA At-Large

     

  • Links and slides from this past meeting

    Big thanks to Steve Dick (K1RF) for making the trip up to Hampden County to talk about speaker design for the amateur radio operator. It was very interesting. Steve referenced a lot of websites and products. He has sent us a PDF of his presentation.

    Loudspeaker Design Considerations for Amateur Radio RevD

    With this PDF, you should be able to click on the links he referenced.

    Thanks for coming out to the meeting!

  • Volunteers Needed For Scantic Spring Splash!

    From Bob (W1SQ)

    scanticspring

    Good Morning.

    The annual Scantic Spring Splash Canoe/Kayak Race is scheduled for Saturday, May 2, 2015.

    The group is in need of licensed Amateurs for coordination/river security.
    I request is to pass this email to them so they may volunteer as individuals.
    Hours will be from 8:30 AM to approximately 2:00 pm.
    Meeting Point is Powder Mill Barn, South Maple St at the Scantic River, Enfield, Ct.

    Contact Bob Laflamme, W1SQ
    860-982-6471 or w1sq@arrl.net

     

  • Jan 2015 Board Meeting Minutes

    HCRA. BOD Meeting Minutes for Jan 9, 2015
    Location: Boys and Girls Club of Greater Westfield

    Called to Order @ 18:30

    BOD Members in attendance

    • Rich  N1XR                   via conference call
    • Jeff   NT1K                   in person
    • Bob      K1YO               in person
    • Gary     W1MOW                      in person
    • Eric      W1MOR                       in person
    • Ed        KB1NWH         in person

    VP W1MOR-Holiday party- Sales, Recap.

    • 53 tickets sold by HCRA

    Treasurer AA1YW-report.

    • Need a check for the HMC for a donation for the use of the room.
    • Donation check to Agawam Park and Rec.
    • MTARA to mail a check for $1,250.11 to the HCRA P.O.Box for Holiday party reimbursement
    • Name Badges to be increased from $11.00 to $12.00 due to loss of  revenue
    • Money requested and ratified for used beam purchase in the amount of $175.00
    • $11.00 profit of 50/50 Raffle from January club meeting
    • $92.00 check requested for PO Box payment

    Secretary WM1B-report,

    • absent

    ZB WA1MOW- deadline for ZB.

    • Any more input from members?
    • Should we discontinue?
    • Ask an Elmer section?
    • Classified Section?
    • Should we ask other clubs for content?
    • Add contact info and procedures for ordering custom attire provided by W1AST

    At Large/Website NT1K-updates, KX3 sales.

    • KX3 sales on track and all websites being managed/maintained/updated

    Membership  N1XR

    • We have 96 total members valid through 2015. The breakdown is as follows:
    • Paid members: 83
    • Family members: 5
    • Prospect (Free): 5
    • Life ((Free): 3

    Program W1AST-

    • Need to advertise the meetings.
    • Request contact info and procedures for ordering custom attire

    Technical K1YO-

    • tech corner before the meeting.
    • Started with antenna diagnostics.

    BOD Mtg locations.

    • Larry (W1AST), Gary (W1MOW), & Rich (N1XR) to form a committee to find and reserve suitable location for March BOD meeting.

    Meeting Adjourned @ 19:42