Ted Cruz on the importance of Ham Radio operations in Emergencies
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Recently we made some improvements to Meshtastic and GMRS on the 23 tower.
Thanks to Mark McDougal W4DMM for supplying the equipment. And huge shout out to Mark Morgan WW9Z for climbing the tower.
Without someone like him all the equipment in the world wouldn’t keep us on the air.
Mark Morgan changed out a meshtastic core node and added a GMRS antenna to the tower.
Also helping as ground support was Wendall Curvin KQ4FIT and Tom Delker K1KY
Thanks to Don Williams, Wendell Curvin, Carl Goebel, Jason Oleham, Mark Roberts, and Mark Swicord for supporting the Murfreesboro Breakfast Rotary Boro BBQ Festival on Saturday, May 2. With more than 11,000 attendees, this year’s festival was the largest yet.
Our team provided golf cart shuttle service between the parking areas and the event, helping keep things running smoothly. We utilized VHF voice, APRS, and Meshtastic technologies to support operations throughout the day.
One disappointment was that, although SRARC secured a Special Event callsign to operate an HF station, the station was never set up. A special thanks to Don for designing the QSL card and creating an online QSL response system—great groundwork for future events.
The good news: we’ve been invited back next year to provide this valuable service. With the experience and systems we’ve developed, we’re well-positioned to make future special event stations a success.
Mark your calendar for May 1, 2027!
73, Mark
KD4EYF
Hello WarriorWX Families & Friends,
On Saturday, April 18th, WarriorWX will host its 2nd Annual Spring Training event. This year’s theme is “Radar & Radio: Essentials of Successful (and fun) Storm Spotting“. We have special guests from the severe weather world, emergency management, and emergency communications, all who will be here to teach, guide, lead, and support student success in learning all about radar, radio, and safe & effective/useful storm spotting. These professionals have been planning for several weeks to bring an amazing and meaningful program to our club!
Please make every effort to allow your student-member to be present for this seminar training. It will be one they won’t want to miss (and there’s free food). Students will enter through the Atrium (between auditorium and Annex, near our campus’s rain gauge). The event will run from 10:00 AM – 2:30 PM and the schedule for the day is attached here. Be sure to reach out with any questions or needs at any time!
We so look forward to a fun and successful day of weather learning.
ARRL Field Day is June 27–28.
Watch for updates
Ham Fest March 28th 2026
8AM-1PM at Harvest Church
21172 Lawrence 1200, Aurora, MO, 65605
Breakfast will start at 7am!!!!
Admission is $10.00 per person, 1 raffle ticket per admission!
Children 12 and under get free admission!
RARSfest, The Raleigh Hamfest April 4, 2026
4285 Trinity Rd Raleigh NC
River Hills ARC Hamfest
Perryville MO
Largest in SEMO
April 11, 2026
A lot of Prizes
LOCATION: ELKS LODGE 2701
921 N PERRYVILLE BLVD
PERRYVILLE, MO 63775
Hamvention Dayton Oh
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
May 15th, 2026 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
May 16th, 2026 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
May 17th, 2026 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Greene County Fair and Expo Center
210 Fairground Road, Xenia 45385
Coordinates are 39.702 N – 83.9420 W
Join us for the Oldest Continuous Running Hamfest in the world! Always the third full weekend in July. Held at The Glacier Meadow RV Park, Essex, Montana. Mark your calendar for the 92nd Annual Glacier Waterton Hamfest! 17 – 19 July 2026! Mark your calendar and make your reservations now.
GWHamfest.ORG
The 2026 Blossomland Amateur Radio Association Midwest Classic Radio Net KI8BQ Memorial Trunk swap is set for Saturday, July 25th, 2026 at Five Pines Ministries.
Time: Setup at 8:00AM, Sales 9:00AM to 1:00PM
Address: Five Pines Ministries, 6597 Smith Rd, Berrien Center, MI 49102
Admission: Free for everyone, though donations greatly appreciated
From KC5VAZ
My UV-5R Mini DigiPi setup
Ok, ladies and gents. I’ve posted this elsewhere on the net, but it just clicked that I haven’t posted it where it might be the most beneficial…. With those just starting out.
This is a simple little setup that enables you to take a very cheap HT and enable it for digital operations, albeit limited. As many may have noticed, getting a radio (HT or otherwise) that is capable of full Tx & Rx of APRS, WinLink, and K.I.S.S. TNC capable can get on the pricier side for hams just getting into the game. This is a basic setup that will allow to play in that space, do so affordably, and allow you to use the parts elsewhere for other projects… So, multipurpose, as well.
The basic set up consist of:
1) Baofeng UV-5R Mini (not the original, but it ‘could’ be used) – $20-40
2) NA6D AIOC (All in one Cable) – $35 w/case from NA6D.com
3) DigiPi (a Raspberry Pi [Zero 2W in this case] and DigiPi build [ https://digipi.org/ ]) – variable, but starts at ~$15 for a Zero 2W and $1 donation for the build
4) USB power bank – possible free, if you already have one
5) USB cables for power and data/audio (I recommend at least one of NA6D shielded cable for the data side)
(optional) I also used magnets to hold them all together and/or attach to other items, as shown in one of the photos
This will allow you to able to work APRS, WinLink, AX.25 networking, and SSTV capability. The AIOC is capable of acting not only as the interface between the radio and the DigiPi, but it can also be used as an interface between the radio and a PC/Laptop for programming (amongst other things). The DigiPi doesn’t only have to be used with an HT, but can also be used with HF rigs, like a FT-710, IC-7300, X6100/6200, or as I’ve attached, an IC-7100 (which I run mobile). This opens up WSJT-X, JS8call, HF APRS, fldigi, and more.
Take this little setup, and combine it with small handheld Yagi (like the DIY tape measure Yagi’s) and you would have something that could work Satellite APRS and SSTV….
It also doesn’t only have to work with a UV-5R Mini…I use the same type setup with my AnyTone AT-D578 UVIII Pro via its BT-01 mic. Most rigs that make use of a K1 connector for a speaker mic can make use of the AIOC adapter, like a Quansheng UV-K5, which is also rather popular…. With the sideband mod, it *might* even be possible to work FT8 with it (haven’t tested, insert grain of salt)
Lots of possibilities to explore other aspects of amateur radio with minor investment.
Just thought I’d share… Have a good day and 73 de KC5VAZ
An Online ZOOM based Ham Radio Technician License Class Begins Monday, March 9, 2026
The Humboldt Amateur Radio Club is offering a class to prepare students for the Amateur Radio Technician Class license examination.
The Technician Class license is the entry-level license for Amateur Radio.
The class is free of charge and open to anyone, anywhere!
The class will meet for 10 Mondays from 7:00 to 9:00 PM PST, beginning Monday, March 9, and concluding on May 11.
The class will introduce radio and electronic fundamentals, tips on operating station equipment, procedures for communicating with other Hams, license and operating regulations and radio safety.
Following the class, the local FCC licensing test is scheduled for Saturday, May 16. Zoom based testing is available if there are no testing locations in your area.
To get your Zoom meeting invitation or for more information on the class, contact Don Campbell by email at KE6HEC@sbcglobal.net
For more information on Ham Radio in Humboldt County, visit the Humboldt Amateur Radio Club website – https://www.humboldt-arc.org/
