Bible
Verse
Joshua 1:9 --- Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (NIV)
President's Report
Hello All,
Field Day was a big success and we already have a standing invite to come back again next year. A good time was had by all and several contacts were made. I believe with a little fine tuning this site could be one of the best we've had in years. We had several come by and check out the operations in the bay area and hopefully we could see at least two new hams from this... one youngster that came by even made a contact, her very first. Hopefully next year she will come back and we can get permission to take a photo for more points. The digital traffic appeared to be the way to go as more of those were made than voice. We will announce the final scores at the monthly meeting so I encourage you to make it Saturday.
In other news Hurricane Beryl is at Cat 4 strength and heading for the Gulf. We could be called to action as it passes and then swings back over us. This is the time to make sure you GO-kits are ready and get things in order. I expect to see Beryl in the Bay of Campeche by Saturday and by then we might have a better idea of which way it will be heading... again more of that will be discussed on Saturday at the meeting. I hope to see you there, Queen City Truck stop at
9am.
73' Charles, KB5SZJ
Next MARC Business Meeting
IMPORTANT NOTE: MEETING TIME AND LOCATION
The next business meeting will be held in the side room at the Queen City Truck Stop from 9am until... on Saturday July 6th. Come join us for breakfast, coffee, and fellowship.
NATIONWIDE ARRL Field Day 2024
The Meridian Amateur Radio Club (MARC) comprised of members from in and around Meridian, Mississippi including surrounding counties came together in Collinsville, Mississippi Saturday and Sunday, June 22-23 to setup and participate in the 2024 Field Day, an American Radio Relay League (ARRL) event. The MARC was graciously hosted by the local fire department who provided the use of the Collinsville Fire and Rescue Department (CF&R) building and facilities for the field day site. This location provided several valuable advantages besides the very good public exposure; we had commercial power and restrooms as well one of the fire engine bays in which to set up tables adjacent to an outdoor area convenient for deployment of various antenna systems.
One of the teams set up under a lean-to area on the side of the building and operated both days solely on “emergency power” from a member’s electric vehicle (EV). They used long wire antennas, taking advantage of several tall pine trees behind the CF&R building to have a place to hang their antenna wires. Although the bands were noisy, most operators were largely successful making contacts with both phone and various digital modes. CW code operation was somewhat hampered due to noise conditions.
Field Day activities are beneficial for participants to exercise and fine tune their ability to operate and provide communications in support of emergency response. Destruction or damage to traditional communication systems due to hurricanes, tornadoes and other conditions such as civil emergencies has happened before and remains a threat. Amateur radio operators or Hams, responding as volunteers, are equipped and are able to step forward and provide communication support for agencies, fire and rescue, ambulance service and other needs including individual’s when a situation arises.
This Field Day location is adjacent to a popular shopping area, thus several individuals and families who noticed the Field Day banner were attracted to stop by to see the activities. Others, after learning about the field day from media and Internet postings, visited the site. Some young persons who were Get-on-the-Air (GOTA) participants were amazed at being able to talk with contacts who were located many states away. MARC members enjoy having contact with prospects of any age, from youth to retirement age, for potential recruitment into the hobby.
Buford, KI5HCM
ARRL Field Day 2024 Photos
e-Loran undergoing continuous testing
As hams involved with digital modes know, our world is increasingly dependent on very accurate time. The Joe Taylor derived modes of FT4 and FT8 are dependent on knowing UTC time down to at least 100 milliseconds, beyond that demodulation may not be possible. Modern high speed computer networks frequently need to know time into the microsecond range, and cell phone networks must be synced into the nanosecond range. The worldwide distribution of time is accomplished using the Global Positioning System
(GPS) or the foreign equivalents. The distribution of time is the most important function of GPS and the other satellite systems, surpassing both navigation and position services. When North Korea Jammed GPS signals covering parts of South Korea, the South Korean cell phone system wandered far enough time within a few hours to cause the system to fail. The current situations in the Middle East and between Europe and Russia have resulted in wide swaths of GPS jamming across these areas. Typically the jamming is reported in the context of airliner navigation problems, however the potential effect on time sensitive infrastructure is more pronounced and serious.
The need for an alternative timing infrastructure has long been identified and gave rise to the e-Loran projects in the US and Europe. China also has a similar program that is not as well reported. The e-Loran project has been in testing in the US for the past few years, with the east coast and west coast stations running short testing cycles of a few weeks. More recently, the west coast master station in Washington state has been running continuously for the past few months and may continue to operate through at least the end of 2024. e-Loran is essentially an upgraded and automated version of Loran C, that is more consistent with improved accuracy. The signal can be received and the timing information extracted using surplus Loran timing receivers made by many manufacturers in the past. Many hams have those receivers, purchased at swap meets or surplus stores, stored in basements along with other boat anchor equipment. It is time to dust them off and fire them up. They do take a special low frequency antenna, but this is a great opportunity to put that old equipment to work.
From "Squelch Tales", a Publication of the San Diego Repeater Association, Inc., 2024, Vol. 1 Issue 1, reprinting permission granted.
July 2024
