March 9th B-17 Planning Session

Good planning session at the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum today.  Several more pieces of radio equipment are now installed in the B-17 radio compartment.  Got the go ahead to spec out a HAM station to install and we are planning a special event to operate from the compartment some time in July.  Still need to get the original transmitter working and run electrical and antenna cabling......de K4GTM

Great CARS Meeting Tonight

Here is a good summary of the great club meeting that we had at the Coastal Amateur Radio Society this evening as reported by Mac, KF4LMT.

March 2011 Coastal Amateur Radio Society Meeting

"For the first time in probably a year or so, I was in town to attend a Coastal Amateur Radio Society meeting. Tonight’s meeting was well attended and very interesting. We had at least 33 present including new hams from the club’s recent class and VE sessions. After the business meeting, Ken – W4JKG gave a presentation building an antenna for a club earth-moon-earth project and Kevin – KW4B gave a presentation on APRS. As the unofficial social media person for the club, I tweeted via the club’s Twitter account @CoastalARS during the meeting:
 •Quick headcount at tonight’s CARS meeting is 28 including a number of new hams!


•2 more came in late, attendance is up to 30!


•This Wed at 2pm, Guy-K4GTM needs some help putting radios in the B-17 at the @Mighty8thMuseum. Contact Guy for more info.


•Jere-KT4ZB reporting excellent band conditions during the #ARRL DX Contest with Solar Flux at 120-140s with 10m active.


•Ken-W4JKG is giving a presentation on homebrewing an antenna to do earth-moon-earth with as a club project. Note: The club will try to receive EME signals from a special event on April 12 using the homebuilt antenna, probably from Tybee Island. For more info, contact Ken.


•Kevin-KW4B is giving a presentation on APRS


•Think we’ve ended up with a crowd of 33 at tonight’s meeting!


•There is a possibility of an APRS digipeater being placed at Candler hospital. For more info, contact Kevin-KW4B. Note: Kevin says that Savannah is an APRS dead zone because there is no digipeater that covers the area. He is going to try to establish a digipeater at Candler that will fill the hole between Charleston and Jacksonville.


It was good to be at the meeting tonight and see some folks I haven’t seen in awhile and see some of the new hams. I also used the opportunity to spread the word about proposed cuts to the National Weather service since there are close ties between amateur radio and Skywarn weather spotting. Hopefully it won’t be so long before I make the next meeting!"

http://kf4lmt.wordpress.com/2011/03/07/march-2011-coastal-amateur-radio-society-meeting/