Looking to get licensed in amateur radio? Look no further!
If you’re in the northwest Ohio area, here’s the next scheduled testing information:
Where:
PeopleWorks
3440 County Road 9
Bryan, OH 43506
When:
Saturday, February 22, 2025 @ 9:30 AM
To register, contact:
Ben Murray (KD8JBS): 419-630-3547
Matt Keck (KE8YDW): 419-553-6976
All levels of testing are available (Technician, General, or Extra Class).
A donation of $15.00 is appreciated.
The following changes were proposed to the DCARC Constitution and By-Laws during the February meeting, which will be voted on during the regular March 10 meeting, pending any additions or modifications:
Constitution Article III, Sec. 4, adding: “Monthly recurring bills (such as electric bill, post office box fee, and club insurance costs) may be paid without prior notification, then reported at the next meeting.”
Constitution Article VI, changing: “[Regular annual dues of] $15.00 per member or $20.00 per family” to “$50.00 per member”
By-Laws Section 4 – Dues, changing: “[Regular annual dues of] $15.00 per member or $20.00 per family” to “$50.00 per member”
By-Laws Section 6 – Finances, adding: “Monthly recurring bills (such as electric bill, post office box fee, and club insurance costs) may be paid without prior notification, then reported at the next meeting.”
Notes:
The current $50.00 dues fee schedule has already been in place for a few years, but the current constitution and by-laws had not been officially updated.
The change for monthly recurring billing is to simplify the tasks for the treasurer, and (when possible) take advantage of discounts for automatic and/or on-time payment.
It has been cold in NW Ohio. But natural disasters don’t wait for perfect weather, and neither does the Defiance County Amateur Radio Club (DCARC). On Saturday, January 25th the DCARC took part in Winter Field Day (WFD). WFD is an event that aims to help amateur radio operators improve their preparedness for disasters and enhance their operational abilities even in adverse conditions.
The purpose is for participants to go out and setup a temporary station in an effort to improve emergency preparedness skills. This station consists of a few radio transmitters, temporary antennas that span several feet, and coax to connect the two together. Using this system, radio operators use different radio frequencies and modes to make contacts. The operators leverage these contacts to send and receive information worldwide. Different modes consist of regular voice contacts (one operator talking to another operator), digital (computer to computer over RF) and morse code.
Participation in this event also allowed for a lot of fun and conversations off the radio waves. The DCARC enjoyed making contacts with 34 different states and 6 different countries. If you would like to know more, or are interested in amateur radio, we would love to talk to you about it. Check out our Facebook page or email us at dcarc.k8von@gmail.com
What an amazing year we had in 2024! So many fun events and get togethers as we continued to learn from one another and improve in our amazing hobby. The pinnacle of which was our 2nd place finish in the OSPOTA contest. But the year consisted of much more than that one event, as we also participated in Winter Field Day, Summer Field Day, Amateur Radio Day and a few others.
So much fun was had, and it culminated in our club Christmas party as we finished out the year. The party was well attending, the conversation joyful and the food delightful. But as I reflected on everything, it seemed as though there should have been more.
So this year, in 2025, we hope to provide more. This year at our club Christmas party we look to recognize and give awards to radio operators who are furthering our hobby. But rather than just “spring” these awards on you, we want to let you know the categories and let you set them as goals for 2025. The awards are as followed;
1 – WAS (SSB) in 2025
2 – WAS (CW) in 2025
3 – WAS (Digital) in 2025
4 – Most contacts (SSB)
5 – Most contacts (CW)
6 – Most contacts (Digital)
7 – Most total contacts (all modes)
8 – Longest distance unassisted VHF/UHF contact
9 – Attend most DCARA meetings/nets
10 – Attend most events (Breakfast, Summer Field Day, etc)
We hope these goals will encourage you to operate more in 2025. We also hope they will fuel excitement and friendly competition. Also, we hope this will foster discussions for new categories/awards in 2026! From all of us, we hope you have a radio-active 2025!
When: Saturday, January 18, 2025 – 2:00PM EST to 6:00PM EST
The DCARC will be participating in this contest / exercise.
2 contest stations will be on the air and a 3rd for coordination and spotting on the local repeaters.
The frequencies used are as follows:
52.510 52.525 52.540
146.460 146.490 146.520
446.000 446.025 446.050 446.100
All transmissions are FM Simplex
The contest exchange is your Callsign, County, and 6-character Grid Square or just ‘QTH’ if you are operating from home. You DO NOT need to be an Ohio station to participate. All Are Welcome!
We will be notifying our current operating frequencies on the Defiance, Paulding, Bryan, Auburn and Fort Wayne repeaters every 15 minutes. After the notifications we will be monitoring the Defiance repeater for any questions.
For all contest info, visit: https://ohsimplex.org/
73 and Catch you On the Air