Soon the hounds were on the trail. Eventually, winding up at the Wylie Elementary School on US-259, just south of town. Wyatt (W5IQE) from Longview was the first to find the fox who was hidden under a traffic cone!
By the end of the morning, the entire crew had located the fox. Thanks to Don from LETARC who also did a brief write-up in the LETARC newsletter!
The ARRL provides essential tools for understanding and adhering to these new requirements:
For the newer club members the Gateway station is located in downtown Henderson at the old Jail Building on the west side of the Court House. The antenna is on the tower there at what is presently the OEM Office, along with the County Commissioner’s repeater.
The Gateway is on 145.010 MHz., and supports both Packet WinLink Sessions and the newer and faster VarAC protocol for VarAC Sessions. The Gateway has a good range and can also be used as a digipeater using the alias HENDER.
There are a handful of us who have VarAC stations set up at our home QTH and we enjoy a good VarAC ragchew with each other from time to time. The VarAC mode allows for unconnected Broadcast from
First, the fairly remote location of the church meant there was almost NO electrical noise on the bands. The church is located in the middle of a large section of land recently reclaimed after the closing of a large surface mine. The mine when right around the church and its cemetery. Second, the building (which is no longer used by any church congregation) is still furnished with tables and chairs and even has air conditioning! And third, there are plenty of very tall trees just waiting to hold up the ends of antennas!
Unfortunately, the Field Day crew was a little smaller than normal, mostly due to the severe weather that rolled through the area the night before leaving thousands of people in the area without power. But the crowd the did show up was treated to a couple of surprises including a visit from Steven Lott (KG5VK) the Section Manager for North Texas. Steven was making the rounds of East Texas Field Day sites and squeezed us in between Tyler and Nacogdoches. Also, Luke (a soon-to-be ham!) brought dinner including grilled hamburgers with all the fixin's on top of homemade sourdough buns made by his wife! Delicious!
Keith took the whole group on a sunset tour of the cemetery, noting some very interesting graves. Marty and Kitch kept the bands hot all night long with Kitch alone making dozens of CW contacts. All in all, it was a great event and we look forward to the next time we can light up the bands!
This year we had nine operators including our a GMRS user which marked the first time we have ever deployed a GMRS unit in a public service event. The club recently put a GMRS repeater on the air locally and added a handful of club members who only operate GMRS. While our Net Control Operator (KG5IPO) primarily used the club's main ham repeater frequency, the back-up NCO (N5NDC / WREM784) monitored the GMRS repeater to relay reports to main net.
The race had nearly 100 runners on the 5k route and around 20 on the 10K path. Stations were deployed to major race turns where issues could (and have in the past) occurred. After the last runner past the station, the operator would generally redeploy to another point along the route or return to the HQ at the finish line.
The operation was a success and race organizers were very appreciative of the group's service. "We couldn't do this race without you all," said Kayla Tillison, the race coordinator. "When all these runners are out on the route, your group's minute-by-minute updates gives us real peace of mind."
The fix is a Common Mode Current Choke in the coax before it gets to the radio.
You can buy a CMC Choke but they are kind of expensive considering what they are made of and how simple they are to make.
Here is one I built with a 240-43 Toroid core wrapped with 12 turns of RG58 coax. I need to put it in a box and solder the coax to the PL-259 connectors.
You can see from the VNA sweep that it has -36.4 dB of attenuation at the bottom of the 40 meter band which is pretty good. If I am not mistaken a 240-31 mix core would provide more attenuation on the higher bands, 20 meters - 10 meters.
Hopefully this will take care of the RFI issue I was seeing with the EFHW antenna.
Here's a link to the online version of the story: https://www.kltv.com/2023/03/02/rusk-county-emergency-managers-storm-spotters-prepare-severe-weather/
SKYWARN was developed by the NWS to improve the accuracy and timeliness of severe weather warnings. SKYWARN spotters are volunteers who report severe weather to their local NWS office. Although not all spotters are ham radio operators, many of them are. They provide real-time, ground-level observations of severe weather conditions, such as hail, high winds, tornadoes, and flooding. This information is then used by the NWS to issue more accurate and timely warnings, ultimately saving lives and reducing property damage.
The Rusk County ARC often partners with the Rusk County Office of Emergency Management to host in-person SKYWARN training in Henderson. Another way to become a SKYWARN spotter is through online training which covers the basics of storm spotting, including identifying severe weather,
Nathan (N5NDC) will lead the presentation with all the ins and outs of WSPR and how you can join in on the fun, probably with the equipment you already have. We will meet at our regular location at the South Main Church of Christ, 402 S. Main Street, Henderson, TX. See you there!
The Rusk County Amateur Radio Club will host a special presentation on “Repeaters” this Thursday evening during their regular monthly meeting. Participants can learn how repeaters work, what kind of radio to use and how to find repeaters available right here in Henderson, Tyler and Longview.
“Learning how to use a ham radio or a GMRS repeater is a great way to be prepared for the worst,” said David Chenault, a member of the Rusk County ARC. “Almost anyone can take advantage of these systems that groups and individuals maintain at no cost to users.”
In addition to helping people stay in touch with each other, repeaters--both GMRS and ham--are often used to report severe weather during storms and hurricanes.
The presentation Thursday evening is just one in a series of topics specifically of interest to GMRS users. Chenault says people wanting to use GMRS radios need to get an FCC license. He adds that the good news is the license fee is only $35 and is valid for 10 years. Best of all, almost anyone can get one because there is no test to take like there is for ham radio licenses.
The program is free and open to the public. It begins at 7 p.m., Thursday, February 9, at the meeting room at the South Main Church of Christ, 401 S. Main, in Henderson.
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Keith has graciously offered his Deer Camp just up the road at the site. While it would definitely be described as "roughing it" by most, the deer camp does boast a small metal building with carport-style canopy to provide shelter from the elements. There is no commercial power or running water (and no bathrooms) but there are battery operated lights, a propane heater, a campfire and an amazing set of stars in the night sky! The road from the County Road to the camp is also a little rough. A high-clearance vehicle, like a truck, is recommended. However, don't let you car stop you from coming. Someone will be able to meet you at the gate if needed.
We'll have two radios setup; one for voice and one for CW along with multiple antennas. There's be lots of food and fellowship as well! We'll have chili and hotdogs, snacks and more. Although not required, feel free to bring something with you to add to the feast.
Everyone needs to bring their own lawn chair. If you come early enough and would like to fish there is a pond with catfish and lots of roads and trails if you are up to a hike through the woods. Remember, there are no restroom facilities so plan according. Bring a friend and hope to see you there!
Date: January 28th & 29, 2023
Time: Come & Go. Well meet there around 10 am to set up. (The contest starts at 1pm and lasts 24 hours unless we decide to give up early and go home.)
Location: Keith’s (KN5G) Deer Camp 32.174470, -94.735544 (Map)
(The deer camp is on the west side of county road 222, between FM 3135 and State HI way 43, northeast of Henderson, Texas.)