Army Guard UH-72 Lakota at Hunter AAF

Hunter Army Airfield had a brief visit today by a Tennessee National Guard UH-72 Lakota.  So what's the big deal?  Well, an old Cisco co-worker of mine was one of the pilots.  I was sitting here in my HAM shack when a Facebook post from Frank showed up stating that he was at Hunter AAF.  I immediately knew it must be a drill weekend for him and his National Guard unit.  I sent back a post telling him I was monitoring the Hunter Tower and asked him what his call sign was.  He came back with the call sign of Guard 72135.  So I decided I'd take a drive over to Hunter and see if I could catch a glimpse of the helicopter before they departed.  As I got to the end of runway 10, I could see that they were just starting engines.  I parked and tuned the scanner up to the Hunter Ground and Hunter Tower freqs so that I could hear Frank as they got thier clearences and departed to the west on runway 28.  Nice part time job, huh?   Good to "see" you today Frank!

The Tennessee National Guard is one of the first units in the Army to recieve the new UH-72 Lakota. 

Amateur Radio License Class

The Coastal Amateur Radio Society will be hosting a Technician Class Amateur Radio Operator course begining this month. This is the Level 1 license. If you've every thought about getting your amateur radio license, now is your chance. We will teach you everything you need to know to pass the 35 question multiple choice exam to attain your FCC license. And you'll learn a whole lot more during this class. We will provide 12 hours of instruction spread across four 3-hour sessions. No prerequisites required and we'll teach you everything you need to know. Attendance at all sessions not absolutely required so don't worry if you can't make every session.


Here are the logistics:

Dates: Tues. Jan 25, Feb 1, Feb 8, Feb 15
Time: 6:00pm - 9:00pm
Location: Memorial Medical Center, Hoskins Center, Classroom 4
Hospital Campus Map -http://www.memorialhealth.com/about/campusmap.aspx?linkid=home#
Test Session: Sat. Feb 19, 9:00am in Classroom 4 (it generally takes less than 30 minutes to take the test)

The class is free but you should purchase the ARRL HAM Radio License Manual. This is the guide that we will be teaching from. You can find this book at several online sites. Be sure that you wherever you order it from that you will recieve it before Jan 25th. Here are a few places to look.

American Radio Relay League - http://www.arrl.org/shop/Ham-Radio-License-Manual-Revised-2nd-Edition/

Barnes and Noble - http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-ARRL-Ham-Radio-License-Manual/ARRL/e/9780872590977/?itm=1&USRI=amateur+radio

Borders (looks like it's on backorder here) - http://www.borders.com/online/store/TitleDetail?sku=0872590836

To find out more about amateur radio and what we do as radio operators, check out this website.
http://www.arrl.org/new-to-ham-radio

Coastal Amateur Radio Society website - http://w4lhs.com/

If you plan to attend the class please email or call me and we'll get you registered. If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask. Looking forward to a great class.


Guy McDonald, K4GTM
President, Coastal Amateur Radio Society
www.k4gtm.blogspot.com/