| New Web Feature "QSL Members" |
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| August 9, 2010 - Meet our club members! A new link can be found on the left side of this page which will take you to our new membership pages: "QSL Members" Starting with our youngest ham, Mike KC9JIK who enjoys farming as well as various other activities. He has several pictures of the farming operation he works on and describes some of the chores he is responsible for. Check it out! Photo: Mike KC9JIK |
| Severe WX Puts N9XH Repeater To The Test |
| July 28, 2010 - Storm damage was found in the Balsam Lake area early Wednesday morning after a severe WX event the evening before. Mark W9GWG snapped this photo showing how the top was snapped off this pine tree. PCARA club members were activated by a Skywarn weather net shortly after 7 pm Tuesday. Most of the damage found in Polk County was in or near Balsam Lake, the county seat and home to the clubs repeater and ham shack. To see more of Mark's photos, click here. Photo: Mark W9GWG |
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| Battery Back-up: Nearly 6 Hours And Still Running! |
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| July 28, 2010 - Just five days after a new "power-revert" back-up supply was installed in the club's MSR-2000 repeater, a severe weather event caused a power failure in the Balsam Lake area. A Skywarn net was brought up by Chris KC9NVV shortly after 7 pm on Tuesday the 27th in response to a NWS request. Then, at 7:19 pm, the black-out occurred. Chuck WD9GWG and Greg N9CHA traveled to the repeater shack to check the battery voltage. At 10:19, 3 hours after the power outage, the battery was at 12.4 volts. The power was restored to the area at 1:05 am Wednesday morning, nearly 6 hours after the black-out. Photo: Greg N9CHA |
| N9XH Repeater Upgrade - Battery Back-up |
July 25, 2010 - Our repeater now has battery back-up capability. On July 23, Greg N9CHA installed a new Motorola power supply which includes both a battery charger and power revert option. If for any reason we experience a power failure, the repeater will continue to operate on battery. (4 hours minimum expected) When this occurs, you will hear a tone burst every 3 seconds when someone is talking. Please write down the time you hear this tone so we can record the duration of the power failure.
Thanks go to Carlos N9GIM for donating the large 90 amp-hour lead-acid battery, Dan KB9OBF and Rick W9WS for help during installation, and Chuck WD9GWG for testing and side-tone level adjustment. |
| Field Day Score Summary |
| July 25, 2010 - Thanks to our Field Day chairman, Dan KB9OBF, our scores have been recorded and posted to the web site. We had a total of 1324 points this year. To see the results, click here. The score summary is listed below the photos. |
| Field Day Photo Gallery - On Line |
| July 1, 2010 - Photos submitted by Dan KB9OBF, Mark KC9PJJ and Rick W9WS are now available in a photo gallery located on the Activities Page. Be sure to scroll down the page and click on the Field Day Photo Gallery 2010 link. Enjoy! |
| Field Day 2010 - It's In The Log! |
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June 27, 2010 - Setting up antennas, putting ham radio equipment on the air and good food combine to provide great fun during Field Day. Chris KC9NVV secures the tri-band beam antenna to the mast on top of the communications van used by the PCARA. Click here for complete Field Day results and more pictures.
Photo: Rick W9WS |
| N9XH Packet System Now Dual Band |
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| June 23, 2010 - The N9XH packet radio system is now dual band offering cross-connects between VHF and UHF. Alinco DR-135 VHF and Alinco DR-435 UHF radios were put into service along with a Kantronics KAM XL dual-port TNC. The RF passes through a cross-band coupler and is then attached to the Hustler dual-band antenna on the tower. Please see the Packet page for more details. |
