Author name: W8NI

Club News & Events, Contests & Events

2024 OSPOTA

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On Saturday, September 7th, the DCARC joined together at Independence Dam State Park for the annual Ohio State Parks on the Air contest. Many members came out to experience this contest and either operate a radio, help with logging, or even just provide support. Every member there was appreciated as it was a long day.

Scoring a total of 25,000 points was our goal this year. In recent years that would rank us somewhere in the top 5. But every year is different with some years higher than others. This is based on propagation as well as the number of parks (multipliers) activated.

Propagation was in our favor as we made contacts with 10 DX entities, 39 individual states, 49 different Ohio State Parks, and 511 total contacts. This all added up to a fun but exhausting day. But we believe the work was worth it as we totaled 25,039 points!

Obviously, we are excited for our success. Especially as we look back over the last 10 years from 2013-2023. In those 10 years, K8VON took part in OSPOTA only 5 times. During those 5 outings our highest score previously was in 2023 when we scored 6,270. This was far above the other four outings. In fact, if we added our scores over the 2013-2023 OSPOTA contest, we accumulated just 8,623 points.

That’s right, this year in 2024, we almost tripled our score over the previous ten! That is amazing and speaks to the devotion and dedication of our club to this event. 

All the logs have been submitted, and now we will wait to hear of the results. I will assume that we will hear of the results in early November. After all, that is the regular release date of the results. Until then, rest up, and then get out into the Parks to get ready for next year!

73, Kevin-W8NI

Contests & Events

World Amateur Radio Day

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We are one week away from World Amateur Radio Day. And this year we will return to Pontiac Park to celebrate. Many of us will be arriving round 8:00am to setup tables, flyers, radio’s and antenna’s. The purpose is to expose the public to the joy’s of amateur radio, and answer any questions they may have.

Everyone is invited to come out and participate. You can be involved by making contacts on the radio, answering questions from the general public, or even ASKING questions of your fellow HAMs. And although we will be near the Pontiac Park boat ramp until approximately 4:00pm, you can come and go as you wish. Come out and celebrate for an hour or the whole time.

World Amateur Radio day is a celebration of the formation of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU). Which happened on April 18th 1925 in Paris, France. Now, 100 years later, the ARRL set this years theme to be: “A Century of Connections: Celebrating 100 years of Amateur Radio Innovation, Community, and Advocacy”.

The ARRL points out that this Celebration “…is not a contest but rather an opportunity to talk about the value of amateur radio to the public and our fellow amateur colleagues.” It is also a great opportunity to recruit potential members and learn from other amateurs. We hope you will take this opportunity to join us.

Nets

DCWG Net

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I still have only heard from 2 people about the upcoming DCWG (Defiance CW Group) net that we are planning for May. I understand that many are shy about using CW… I remember the first time I sent my call out on the air, partially hoping the guy calling CQ would NOT come back to me. 

But as each contact progressed, I got more and more comfortable with CW. And I believe you will experience the same thing. Each time you get on the air, and work with CW, the more confident you will become. So let me encourage you again, to sign up for this net. 

This net will be on 2m. This will help keep it local and allow us to work together to learn. I also will provide the “script” that you can download and use it to “follow along”.

Lastly, I made a YouTube video, walking through how the net will work, to again, take some of the fear and apprehension away. So let me say again, If you are interested, or have any questions about participating in this net. Please let me know. This is a great opportunity to learn and practice CW.     de Kevin-W8NI

Nets

Slow Speed CW Net

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Many people have shared that there is an interest in learning CW. It is my belief that the best way to learn is by doing. So I am beginning to put together an opportunity for us all to practice. My hope is that in a few weeks we can start working together to learn this fun mode by beginning a slow speed CW net.

I understand that many are shy about using CW, and so my goal is to take as much anxiety away as possible. First, I will operate this net as the Net Control. As such, I have put a script together that I will share with all who are interested. The advantage of having this script is that you will know what is coming, what you need to do, and when to do it. A script is a great tool to begin listening and becoming familiar with hearing code.

Second, I plan on doing this net on 2m. This will help keep it local and allow us to work together to learn. However, I am not against doing this net on a different band, based on the equipment those who are interested, have available.

If you are interested, or have any questions about participating in this net. Please let me know. I really want to know if anyone is interested in this opportunity. I would also appreciate knowing when everyone would be available for this net, so please send me a suggested day & time. I am really excited about this new net and hope that through this practice, we can all work together in a low stress environment to learn this fun mode. de Kevin-W8NI

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