The July Edition of the MARC
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Net
Information
The West Stark Information Net convenes
every Friday evening on the club's 147.18 repeater beginning at 8:00 PM.
There is no net on club meeting night.
This is a general
information net and accepts all check-ins from the
community. Current Net Manager is Tony
Casebolt, KD8UXK. Contact him at kd8uxk@yahoo.com.
Net Managers are currently
looking for stations to assist with net control duties. All
training will be provided.
Net
Control Operators for May are as follows:
July
7 -
No Net
July 14 - KD8UXK
July 21 - WC8W
July 28 - W8DEA
**********
The Massillon MRN Net
convenes every Sunday, evening on
3600 Khz (+or- QRN) at 8:00 PM.
This net is designed to
provide code practice to all participants regardless of
skill level.
Member
Websites
None Currently Posted.
Contact webmaster to have
yours added here!
Our Mission
It shall be our purpose to further amateur
radio by serving the public; to promote technical knowledge,
fraternalism, and individual operating proficiency;
and to advance the general interest and welfare of amateur
radio in the community.
Amateur
Radio has consistently been the most reliable means
of communications when other systems have failed.
Hams work closely with disaster relief agency
officials from FEMA, the American Red Cross, the
Salvation Army, and other response organizations to
offer wireless communications aid. From wildfires
and earthquakes to marathons and road races, when
getting the message through is critical, ham
radio works.
The Amateur Radio Public
Service Handbook is for
all hams that volunteer their time and skill to
serve their communities. It provides knowledge
needed for communicating quickly and effectively
during disasters, emergencies, and community events,
as well as an opportunity to learn more about the
Amateur Radio Service and its unique role in
supporting the public.
The 2017 Stark County VE Exam Schedule
is now available. The next testing session will be held at the
Massillon Hamfest on Sunday, October 29th. Registration begins at 8:00 AM.
VISIT THE
NEW OFFICIAL ARRL
SPORTSWEAR & LOGO MERCHANDISE
WEBSITE !
********
The MARC Website has
been rated
by
**********
Our club repeater is always available for all
operators. Use PL 110.9 Hz.
Try out your Yeasu Digital Voice radio's on
our Fusion equipped UHF Repeater on 442.85 Mhz.
Search
Our Site
What
is the MARC ?
Since 1927, the Massillon Amateur Radio Club has been a diverse
radio hobbyist club that is currently over 80 members strong.
Active within our community as well as an ARRL Special Service
Club, we are actively involved in many facets of Amateur Radio,
including Public Service, Membership,
Field Day, Repeaters, Amateur Television (ATV),
Skywarn plus many other interests. Learn
More....
ARRL Field Day 2017
MARC FIELD DAY INFO
(Jun 18, 2017) - - -
And yes, before we know it we will all be
gathering at Petros Park to once again take part in ARRL Field
Day. Webster defines Field Day as a "day devoted to outdoor
sports and athletic competition, a time of extraordinary
pleasure or opportunity." We definitely agree.
The weekend of June 24 & 25 has been designated as this year
Field Day participation exercise and we will once again hold our
annual event at the great Petros Park in Perry Township starting
with setup Saturday morning at about 9:00 AM.
This is intended as a full club participation event and I
hope to see many of you there. We have been fortunate for the
past several years to have a very successful and enjoyable event
and may club members will work very hard to make sure this year
is just as great. Field Day weekend is a great way to understand
nearly every aspect of Amateur Radio from emergency
communications to contesting. One of our main goals is to make
sure everyone gets a chance to operate regardless of their
experience level. Any of our members will be happy to help you
with operating over the weekend. You don’t have to be a first
rate contest operator or high speed CW Op to participate. The
main goal is to come out and enjoy our event and learn about
operating. You are also encouraged to bring out a piece of gear
that you would like to show off to the club, perhaps something
you picked up at Dayton ? Bring it out !
The last several years we have made it a point to concentrate
on the educational aspects of Field Day. By the time the event
is over Sunday afternoon, we hope you will have learned
something new about the hobby. Then we can claim we have had a
truly successful event regardless of the score.
And Oh Yes, did I mention the fun? That is the most important
part of Field Day, although some would say the annual Field Day
Feast is the best part!. Learning setup, assembling antenna’s,
operating, logging are all part of the experience that is Field
Day. I’m sure we will throw in a few other events like our
annual Field Day Fox Hunt and who knows what else.
The club will provide burgers and hot dogs, soft drinks and
water. We are asking members to provide some nice side dishes
and desserts to round out our dinner. My wife Lynnette is
planning on supplying pasta salad, fruit salad, Rigatoni and
some home made cookies.
MARC Visits Touch-A-Truck
(June 18, 2017) - - On
Saturday, June 17th the club
participated in the Annual Touch-A-Truck
Day at Buhler's Market parking lot in
Jackson Township. This event allows
children of all ages the opportunity to
experience first hand cars and trucks of
all kinds. Everything from Police and
Fire vehicles to a helicopter and many
more were on display.
The club had our EComm Trailer on site
with our mast extended and equipment on display and operating to
demonstrate our hobby to the public. Perry, W8AU also brought
his military jeep to show. Lots of children toured our trailer
and the Jeep many having their picture taken operating our main
station. Eleven club members assisted with this event.
It was a great time and we received many
comments about our equipment and how we serve as a backup
communications service to public safety forces and our
community. Many thanks to the several club members who helped
out or stopped by to have a look including Terry - N8ATZ, Perry
- W8AU, Wade - WD8MIU, Jim - WA8GXM, Wade - W8DEA, Chris -
KD8TNF, Ted - K8TWA, Mike - KB8OTK, Mike - KE8EHG, Don - W8DEF,
Tony - KD8UXK and Ralph - K8HSQ. Also thanks to Jim for some
great aerial drone shots.
Jim acts a tour guide for
our many visitors !
Our Drone shot, that's our
mast on the right !
We even had a shady spot to
handle the very hot day !
MARC Participates in Memorial
Day Parade
(May 28, 2017) - - The MARC will participate in this years
Memorial Day Parade in Massillon on Monday, May 29th. The club
EComm Trailer will be decorated in full colors with flags
denoting all branches of our armed services and will be part of
the parade starting at 9:30 AM Monday morning.
Club members are encouraged to attend the
ceremonies to recognize our members who have served in the
military and to reflect on the true meaning of this important
holiday.
W8AU ready to join the parade units !
EComm One Shows Off the Colors !
Ohio Section Manager Visits
Club
(Mar 4, 2017) - - A special thanks to Ohio Section
Manager Scott Yonally, N8SY for the great program at our March
meeting. Lots of interesting news going on here in the Ohio
Section and a nice review of what to expect from the League at
this years Dayton Hamvention.
Thanks for the fine program Scott at our
annual ARRL night !
A full house for our
annual ARRL program night !
Perry Twp PD Honors WB8HHP
(Feb 11, 2017) - - We would like to take
this opportunity to introduce and honor Officer Timothy J.
France. Officer France has been serving the community of Perry
Township for the last 35 years and will be retiring from our
department February 9, 2017.
Officer France obtained his bachelors degree from Kent State
University in 1979 and continued his education by completing the
Lawrence Township Police Academy in 1980. He began his career as
an Auxiliary Officer for Lawrence Township and Jackson Township.
Officer France started as a full-time police officer with the
Perry Township Police Department on June 2, 1981 and was one of
the original nine full-time police officers when the department
first began operations.
During Officer France's career he was a Road Patrol Officer,
Detective, Union Representative and Evidence Officer. Officer
France has had many highlights in his career and has helped
tremendously with multiple large projects within the police
department. Officer France was one of several employees to
assist in the creation and implementation of the “Special
Response Unit,” as well as the radio/communication system and
the organization of the evidence room by applying advanced
professional standards. Officer France not only has great
attendance for his regular shifts but in times of significant
and critical investigations he responds to calls for service at
all times of the day or night with no questions asked.
The Board of Trustees will be honoring Officer France at the
Board meeting on Tuesday, February 7, 2017 at 7:00pm at the
Perry Township Administration Office- 3111 Hilton St. NW,
Massillon, Ohio 44646. As always the public is welcome to
attend. It has been a privilege to work with Officer France. His
kindness and sense of humor will be greatly missed! We wish you
the best of luck, Timmy!
Retiring Officer and Lifetime MARC Club
Member Tim France, WB8HHP (R).
Congratulations Tim on a fine career of
public service to our community !
Massillon Holiday Parade
(Nov 20, 2016) - - The club just finished assisting
with the 62nd Annual Massillon Holiday Parade sponsored by
Massillon Main Street and the Downtown Massillon Association.
This continues to remain the oldest public service event that is
handled by the club and our responsibilities have grown over
recent years to include many aspects of parade operation. The
parade was rebroadcast over Massillon Cable TV and I hope some
of you had a chance to view it. The club trailer looked great on
the route with our new decorations and special thanks to Jim
Farriss - WA8GXM for pulling the trailer in the parade.
In the early years of the parade, we provided only
communications support to the Massillon JC’s organization who
handled the staging of all the parade units. When they
disbanded, the city struggled to find volunteers willing to take
on this task. Since the MARC handled communications support,
somehow we got nominated to take on this responsibility as well.
A few years later, Massillon Cable began filming the parade
in conjunction with the Massillon High School Communications
Department and again the club was called upon to assist with
this part of the parade also. Last minute omissions or changes
to the parade line up are passed on to the production crew so
that the announcers can follow along with the parade units. We
had experience with this as well as amateurs routinely handle
staging activities including TV production control relay duties
at the Hall of Fame Festival Community Parade. The Holiday
Parade has depended on this ever since.
Over the past several years the parade has been sponsored by
the Downtown Merchants Association. During this time and before
the club has always been there to make sure the parade is
properly staged and starts on time down the parade route. We
have become an integral part of the parade and I wonder if they
could pull it off without us.
I’m glad to report another successful public service event
with very few problems thanks to our communications and parade
skills. 19 Volunteers took part in this years parade and our
thanks for their help. For over 48 years and counting Santa has
arrived in the city in no small part thanks to the MARC.
The following club members assisted with this years parade.
Igor - K8INN; Steve - KD8ACF; Fred - KD8SMO;
Don - W8DEA; Lori - KE8EHF; Dan - N8DZM; Ted -
K8TWA; Robin - N8EBS; Vern - KE8VS; Terry -
N8ATZ; Jim - WA8GXM; Anne - N8GAF; Perry -
W8AU; Al - KE8EHE; Mike - KB8OTK; Tom -
KC8QOD; Charlie - KB8STV; Russ - N8PII and Wade -
WD8MIU.
MARC Hamfest Information
(Oct 30, 2016) -
- A big Thank You to the many club volunteers
who helped with the annual MARC Hamfest. You all did a great job
! Preliminary results will be ready for the meeting but it
looks like we did a little better than last year..
Reports from our table vendors were very
positive and reported they did pretty well. Many thanked us for
putting on a very nice hamfest and they are looking forward to
next years show.
See you at the November meeting with a
full report !
New Repeater Antenna Installed
!
(Oct 12, 2016) - - On Saturday, October 8th members of the
MARC Technical Committee completed the final phase of the 147.18
Mhz upgrade project. With the help of Marty Baker, N8XPK and
Committee lead Jim - WA8GXM along with helpers Terry - N8ATZ,
Mike - KB8OTK, and Vern - KE8VS, the new commercial 4 bay
antenna was replaced along with a new section of feedline to the
Tower Site. We noted that when the old antenna was lowered to
ground level it was clear that the antenna had been damaged by
lightning multiple times certainly affecting it's performance.
This completes a nearly year long upgrade
process that included the installation of the new Yaesu Fusion
Repeater, a GE Power Amp, and a newly refurbished duplexer and
many other minor upgrades in our effort to eliminate
intermittent repeater noise and poor performance to our main two
meter repeater.
During this time we also upgraded our UHF
System on 442.85 Mhz with a new Yaesu Fusion repeater, new
feedline and in September a new commercial grade 2 bay antenna.
Over the next few months, we will be
closely monitoring the main club repeater performance to make
sure we have cured several problems and will once again have a
great sounding solid repeater system for our membership. Our
thanks to Marty and the repeater committee for completing this
project before winter weather arrived.
A few pictures are posted below from the
antenna project...
The Ground Crew prepares
the hard line
The feedline is ready to be
hoisted up the tower
Marty, N8XPK makes his way
to the top of the tower
Marty's assistant working
his way to the top
The new antenna ready to
hoist up the tower
The new antenna set at
approx 200 feet atop the tower
The existing repeater
antenna removal
This is tough and dangerous
work nearly 200 feet in
the air with a 15 to 20 mph wind !
The new antenna as seen
from a drone at the top of the
tower. Thanks to WA8GXM for the pix !
A job well done by everyone
and Thanks !
New Hamvention Site Announced
!
(Aug 01,
2016) -
-
Hamvention®
has
a new
home !
Days
after
Hara
Arena
announced
it will
close
it's
doors,
an
announcement
from
Green
County
officials
revealed
that
Hamvention
will be
held at
the
Green
County
Fairgrounds
next
year.
The
event
for
ham-radio
enthusiasts
generated
about
$21
million
last
year and
drew a
crowd of
more
than
27,000
for
Mongomery
County.
Hamvention
General
Chairman
Ron
Cramer
indicated
that we
believe
this new
venue
will be
a
spectacular
place to
hold our
beloved
event.
Rest
assured
we will
have the
event on
the same
weekend
and,
since it
will be
in the
region,
current
accommodations
and
outside
events
already
planned
for
Hamvention
2017
should
not be
affected.
Field Day Recap
(Jul 3, 2016) - - A special thank you to all those club
members who took part in our annual ARRL Field Day exercise. The
check in log showed over 50 members and guests participating in
this years event. Although the weather was a bit warm it
remained dry all weekend. All stations were in operation
throughout the weekend. Band conditions were not ideal for us
but the goal of the exercise was not to break contact records
but to demonstrate our ability to setup and operate for 24 hours
simulating and emergency condition.
Another important part of our event was
exposing our hobby in action for our new members and the public.
Many of our newly licensed members took an active role in the
event learning what the event was all about and learned
important new skills to assist them in setting up their own
stations and enjoyment of out great hobby. Thanks to club
Secretary Fred, KD8SMO and his great work gaining publicity for
the event in local media, several members of the public stopped
by to understand our hobby and the contributions we make to our
community.
Many thanks are necessary for those who
participated over the weekend especially our setup and tear down
crews. Another success was our always great Field Day Dinner and
thanks to member Shirley for another outstanding job fixing a
great dinner meal including those who also provided extra side
dishes and desserts for us.
Another successful club activity thanks to
the many members who assisted again this year !
In Pursuit of Field Day
by Perry, W8AU
(May 30, 2016) - - In view of the effort
of the last 8 months to work with the new director of Parks and
Recreation for approval of use of one of the city’s best parks
(for our use), here is a summary of events.
1. Obvious need for a new site for FD
since Petros Park no longer has usable green space and last
year’s setup on blacktop required elimination of guy wires and a
lower tower height and no 800’ longwire. Also the ARRL suggested
rule regarding a 3 year concurrent use limit on any given site
in keeping with the spirit of emergency preparedness.
2. Survey of parks for suitability and
selection of best. In late fall of 2015 Shriver Park on the
city’s southeast side was visited by the following FD folks at
various times. Igor-K8INN, Jim- WA8GXM, Terry – N8ATZ, Dan-
N8DZM, Don- W8DEA, and myself. In view of the wide expanse of
open space plus pavilion and rest rooms, and the high elevation
and clear horizon to the west, it was agreed this was the best
choice.
3. Request for approval from newly hired
Parks and Rec Director from Medina. Her first response was that
in 15 years of experience she had never heard of such a use and
didn’t think it appropriate. (Medina has no hams?) So began
the information campaign to help the new director understand the
what and why of Field Day by submitting a few pages of pictures
and information about this national event plus our longstanding
civic involvementin local emergencies
when called on.
4. Early this spring a reservation was
made for Shriver Park to ensure our possible use of it for the
dates June 25/26. Our request from last fall was revisited with
the Director issuing a Q & A list of 9 parts dealing with:
1.Layout; 2. Location of vehicles; 3. Noise levels from start
to finish; 4. Traffic (visitors); 5. Parking; 6. Requests
other than pavilion & restrooms; 7. Clean up; 8. Safety; 9.
Detailed description, advertising and purpose.
We answered all questions positively and
also added a Police report of all events occurring in vicinity
of Shriver Park from Jan1 – May 1, 2016. This report showed
very little activity and nothing criminal. Unfortunately this
report took about three weeks to accumulate since they had no
experience doing that after Capt Joe Herrick had left. (who did
that regularly)This was the reason it
was not available for the last meeting, which would have
alleviated the unnecessary fear that was expressed. Despite the
club vote this process had to run it’s course so we would not
have to repeat it in the future.
5. Parks Director established our request
to be considered at the monthly meeting of the Parks and Rec
Board of Directors, Thursday, May 12. I produced 6 identical
packets of information, photos, Google map layout, and answers
to the Directors Q&A to be given out to each Board member and
her Superintendent, Steve Pedro. Unfortunately these packets
were not given to the board until the last agenda item addressed
by the Board, which was our request. It appeared earlier, due
to our “dotting all I’s and crossing all T’s” that we would have
approval. But a strange thing occurred. A new board member,
saying he lived in the park vicinity, and having heard in
advance about our request, and not knowing anything about us,
immediately said he was against it! This caught all by surprise
and although there was talk of compromise, he prevailed. It was
then that Wampler Park was approved for our event, if we should
accept it.
6. Wampler (Main St west) was surveyed and
found to be possible if one of our stations coulduse one corner of one of the ballfields. After reaching
the Sports Director (who schedules ballpark use) we discovered
that both ballfields were in use during our weekend. End of
feasibility review!
While it seems we will be forced to use
Petros despite all its negatives and limitations to our
operations, (and bugs) there is still time for further
suggestions. After all, isn’t our motto,
“Have trailer, will travel?” ;-)
March Program Details UPDATED
!
(Feb 21, 2016) - - Our scheduled March program was to
have been presented by club member Don Wade, W8DEA on his recent
FEMA assignment. Due to scheduling difficulties, this program
will have to be postponed until later this year.
Fear not however, we have a very nice backup program that we
will have for you at the March meeting. Several months back an
interesting article appeared in either QST or CQ Magazine that
covered how well the new series of handhelds performed up
against the current big three manufacturer's (Icom, Yaesu and
Kenwood). The results were a bit of a surprise as many of the
current crop of very low priced HT's did not fair well during
compliance testing. How about yours ?
Club President Ralph Bugg, K8HSQ will bring along his
portable spectrum analyzer to the meeting and will be happy to
run a simple test on your HT to see how clean your output signal
is. It is simple and quick to test. Just make sure you bring
your HT and it's antenna. I know we all have at least one
handheld, I have one for every day of the week !
So make sure you bring it along to the meeting and let us put
it to the test !
......THE RESULTS OF
THE TESTING......
Our fill-in program on HT Purity testing yielded some very
interesting results as we expected it to. The two pictures below
show the results of testing on two common manufacturers of
current HT's. One was the new infusion of a China made
model BAOFENG - UV-5RA and the current Yeasu FT2D Digital HT.
Several HT types were tested along with a few commercial models.
Have a look and make up your own mind !
This shot is from the Yeasu FT2D. The tall
vertical trace on the left shows a nice signal with only a few
spurious emissions shown by shorter vertical lines to the right.
This shot is from the China made Baofeng
UV-5RA. While the signals are similar you can easily see
multiple spurious emissions on the right. A slightly "dirty"
radio signal.
In all, about 15 handhelds were tested with
various results. Not scientific but it would appear that you do
indeed get what you pay for !
February Program on NPOTA
(Feb 6, 2016) - - The February club program was given by
our Affiliated Club Coordinator John Meyer, KD8MQ who gave us a
great introduction to this years major ARRL operating event,
National Parks On The Air.
John's powerpoint presentation gave us the
full details of this nationwide operating event that promises to
be very exciting and give plenty of fun operating for everyone.
This event will help the NPS celebrate their 100th Anniversary.
Hams from across the country will activate
NPS units, and promote the National Parks Service and showcase
Amateur Radio to the public. The club may even explore the
possibility of operating from one of the nearby NPS units.
John had a great
presentation at the meeting
Steve Hall, KD8ACF Merit Award
(Feb 6, 2016) - - In recognition of his continuing
service to the club in many areas throughout 2015 and before,
member Steve Hall, KD8ACF was presented a Special Recognition
Award at the February meeting. A special thanks to Steve for his
dedication to the club year after year !
Steve Hall, KD8ACF (R)
receives his Special Recognition Award
Club Repeater Updates
(Nov 9, 2015) - - The club Technical Committee recently
completed a few repairs and upgrades to several of our repeaters
that now effect their general operation.
The Affinity Medical Center 442.85 repeater system has had an
upgrade with new hardline and a replacement Diamond antenna. In
addition, the Johnson Repeater was retuned and the receiver
pre-amp was reinstalled.
This work was done to facilitate it's use during the upcoming
Massillon Holiday Parade on Saturday, Nov 21st. The system is
now back to it's full operating capacity and running very well.
The PL tone to operate this repeater is 131.8 Hz. This system
was primarily designed to enhance our Skywarn operations with
the hospital with a coverage pattern designed to cover the
general downtown area.
Our newest Yaesu System Fusion 442.85 repeater will remain on
the air to support digital operations. It's PL access tone has
been changed to 110.9 Hz. This should allow both systems to
easily co-exist with minimal interference. You can easily tell
which repeater you are on as the system at Affinity Hospital is
using our original CAT Controller which has a reset tone.
Feel free to use either system you like, both are fully
operational !
In Memoriam to our dear friend
and member Ed Clinger, WA8DRT
(Jul 5, 2015) - - At age 86, Ed passed away
on Tuesday June 23, 2015. Born in Harpster, Ohio the son of the
late Clifford and Orel (Swihart) Clinger, he had been a resident
of East Sparta and the Canton area since 1940. Ed was a 1947
graduate of East Sparta High School. He retired from Ashland Oil
Refinery in 1989 after 36 years of service where he was an area
supervisor. He was a member of the Ashland Oil Retirees Club,
Otterbein United Methodist Church—Navarre, The Canton Amateur
Radio Club and the Massillon Amateur Radio Club and Quarter
Century Wireless Association Chapter # 21; Ed’s Call sign was
WA8DRT, Ed’s humorous phoneticswere “ Whiskey
Delta 8 Dirty Rotten Tomato” Ed was also a member of Caldwell
Lodge #330, F.A.& M. in Bolivar, A.A.S.R. Valley of Canton, the
Mercy Medical Center Ostomy Club, Wilderness Center Nature Photo
Club and he served in the U.S. Naval Reserve.
Proceeded in death by his son, Jay Clinger. Survived by his
wife, Doris Clinger; two daughters and sons-in—law Jamie Sue and
Steve Voican, of Massillon, and Robyn and Roy Adkins of Lake
Butler, Fla.: two sons and daughters –in-law Stanton and Lois
Clinger of Broomfield, Colo, and Stephen and /Karen Clinger of
Boalsburg, Pa; one sister, Lois Armington, of Willoughby, Ohio;
and ten grandchildren and 14
great
grandchildren.
As per Ed’s wishes he was cremated. A memorial will be held
at a later date at the Otterbein United Methodist Church–
Navarre. Service information will appear in the Repository and
on the Funeral Home website closer to the Service date. Instead
of sending flowers, contributions in Ed’s memory may be made to
the Otterbein Methodist Church –Navarre, 6025 Shepler Church Ave
SW, Navarre, Ohio 44662 or the American Cancer Society, P.O. Box
22718 , Oklahoma City, OK 73123-1718. The Finefrock—Gordon
Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Condolences may be
left at:
Our Most Sincere Condolences to the Family of Ed Clinger.
73’s good friend we wily surely miss you!
Our dear friend and member Ed, WA8DRT (R)
April Meeting - ARRL Night
(Apr 4, 2015) - - Our April meeting was our annual ARRL
Night as our Special Guest was Ohio Section Manager Scott
Yonally, N8SY. Also attending was our Affiliated Club
Coordinator John Myers, KD8MQ. Scott's annual visit included
current happenings within the Ohio Section and the renewed
importance of public service and active club participation in
our community.
His visit also included a presentation of
our active renewal for our ARRL Special Club Status. This elite
ARRL status recognizes a affiliated club that goes above and
beyond for their community and for Amateur Radio is what defines
a Special Service Club. They are leaders in their Amateur Radio
community who provide active training classes, publicity
programs, and actively pursue technical projects and operating
activities.
Thanks to the clubs strong belief in our
hobby and our community, we have been a Special Service Club for
the last ten years.
Affiliated Club Coordinator John Myers,
KD8MQ (L) presents President Ralph, K8HSQ with our renewed
Special Service Club Certificate.
March Mentoring Class
(UPDATED) (Mar 7, 2015) - - - Continuing on the current theme
of kit building and fox hunting, the March Mentoring Class
covered the construction of a Tape Measure Beam for Fox Hunting.
The class was held at the
Massillon Senior Center on Saturday, March 7th. This months Mentor
was
Dan Anastas, N8DZM our resident Fox Hunter. A kit of parts
needed to construct the Tape Measure Beam was provided for
$13.00.
Dan coached the builders on the
construction of the beam antenna providing some theory on its
design and operation.
This will continue in our April
Mentoring Class which will be on learning how to Fox Hunt and
will give you a chance to use both your Attenuator and Tape
Measure Beam. This class will be held on Saturday, April 11th
also at the Massillon Senior Center. Additional details will
follow. Our thanks to club member John, N8CD for the great
pictures !.
Mentor Dan, N8DZM oversees
our beam builders
Wade, WD8MIU put the final
touches on his new DF beam
Dan (R) checks the final DF
Beam for Thomas, KC8ZEH
Another successful
Mentoring Session !
February Mentoring Class Info
(UPDATE) (Feb 7, 2015) - -
Our February Mentoring Program was conducted on Saturday, Feb
7tg at the Senior Center. This training was conducted by John
Wagner, N8CD and was part of a series on Direction Finding. This
part was on the construction of a Variable Offset (Active)
Attenuator built from a kit.
John began with the basics of soldering, a
skill all radio operators should have. This included proper
safety techniques, the theory of how an attenuator works and
testing out the kit when completed.
Approximately 10 club members took part in
this session including builders and mentors. John's program
included an excellent powerpoint presentation following step by
step help and guidance in building the K0OV kit from Marvin
West, KE6HTS. The kit included a great looking case from the
famous Altoids Mint Tin.
Everyone had a fun time during this mentoring
session and learned a lot. We especially want to thank John,
N8CD for the time he spent preparing this training session
including the individual help he and his mentors provided the
members. Everyone's kit went together fine and all worked !
Our March and April Mentoring Sessions will
continue this theme as we build the famous Tape-Measure Beam
used for DX'ing and some actual field training during April.
John has made available the powerpoint
presentation for those who missed the training. You can view it
by clicking the following link.
http://bit.ly/marc-kit
Some pictures of the event are posted
below...
The
members enjoyed a great presentation
The build
station with lots of help provided !
Proper Station Grounding Class
(Jan 18, 2015) - - The clubs first Mentoring Program was
held on Saturday, Jan 17th with about 20 members and guests in
attendance. The class was held at the Massillon Senior Center.
This months Mentor was James Andrews,
KD8VT and the class covered proper station grounding for your
shack. The training included a very informative powerpoint
presentation and lecture from James. The attendees learned the
basics of station grounding including lightning protection for
your equipment and tower installations. James also included some
show & tell on various types of coax and hard line usage.
The club provided coffee and donuts for
the morning. Thanks also to James XYL who brought an assortment
of cookie's and cupcakes.
The presentation was excellent and well
received by everyone. James also will provide a copy of the
powerpoint that will be posted to the club's website for those
who couldn't attend.
Our first Mentoring Class was well
received by the attendee's
A
Bit of Repeater History !
The
clubs 147.18 Repeater is the high profile wide area
coverage repeater in Western Stark county and has been for quite
some time. But it wasn't always so, in fact at one time it was not
even a repeater at all ! Learn about the colorful history of
the repeater thanks to an early issue of the clubs newsletter that
I recently found.
Since 1927, the Massillon Amateur Radio Club has been a diverse
radio hobbyist club that is currently over 80 members strong.
Active within our community as well as an ARRL Special Service
Club, we are actively involved in many facets of Amateur Radio,
including Public Service, Membership,
Field Day, Repeaters, Amateur Television (ATV),
Skywarn plus many other interests.
You are welcome to join us at our monthly club
meetings held on the first Friday of each month at 8:00 PM
at the Massillon Senior Citizens Center, located at 39 Lincoln
Way West, Massillon, Ohio 44647. We usually monitor the club's
147.18 repeater, give us a call and we'll guide you in !
MARC owns and operates repeaters
in the 2 meter and 70 centimeter bands. Our annual Hamfest
is held at the Massillon Boy's & Girls Club in Massillon. We have a large indoor
hamfest area, as well as ample outdoor parking. The prizes are
some of the best you'll find at any area hamfest and the bargains
are many.As
a club member, not only will you have access to the autopatches
on our 2m and 70 cm repeaters, but you will also receive a monthly
subscription to our newsletter, Feedback.
In each issue you will find published, the minutes of the previous
month's meeting, informative articles, and interesting narratives
by our club members.
The
club owns an emergency response communications
trailer that is stocked with radio equipment and back up batteries,
as well as a generator. With little notice, MARC can have an emergency
station on the air, ready to provide any help we can. Our club
station, located at the Senior Center, contains an HF station,
VHF and UHF gear, and a computer system. The station is open to
any club member, during the hours that the center is open.
The club also sponsors quarterly VE Exams
quarterly at the Emergency Operations Center located
at the Stark County Sheriff's office and
during our annual Hamfest. Please check the link for
times and specific dates.
Site best viewed in 800 x 600 Resolution
Using Microsoft Internet Explorer
2017 MARC
ARES®, Amateur Radio Emergency Service and the
ARES logo are registered trademarks of the American Radio Relay
League, Incorporated and are used by permission.
Q.
Do I have to give my call sign at the beginning of a
contact ?
A.
You only have to ID at the end of the QSO and at
least once every 10 minutes during it's course as
per Article 97.119(a). There is no requirement to
transmit your call at the beginning of a contact but
it is customary when calling another station to give
your call as part of the exchange so the other
station knows who is calling him !
Q.
How often do I have to give the call sign of the
station I'm talking to ?
A.
You are not legally required to mention the other
amateur's call at all per Article 97.119(a). The
only exception is when handling traffic with foreign
stations - you must then give the other station's
call sign at the end of an exchange of third party
traffic per Article 97.115(c).
(Jun 18, 2017) - - - 
(Mar 4, 2017) - - A special thanks to Ohio Section
Manager Scott Yonally, N8SY for the great program at our March
meeting. Lots of interesting news going on here in the Ohio
Section and a nice review of what to expect from the League at
this years Dayton Hamvention.
(Nov 20, 2016) - - The club just finished assisting
with the 62nd Annual Massillon Holiday Parade sponsored by
Massillon Main Street and the Downtown Massillon Association.
This continues to remain the oldest public service event that is
handled by the club and our responsibilities have grown over
recent years to include many aspects of parade operation. The
parade was rebroadcast over Massillon Cable TV and I hope some
of you had a chance to view it. The club trailer looked great on
the route with our new decorations and special thanks to Jim
Farriss - WA8GXM for pulling the trailer in the parade. 
(Aug 01,
2016) -
-
Hamvention®
has
a new
home !
Days
after
Hara
Arena
announced
it will
close
it's
doors,
an
announcement
from
Green
County
officials
revealed
that
Hamvention
will be
held at
the
Green
County
Fairgrounds
next
year.
(Feb 21, 2016) - - Our scheduled March program was to
have been presented by club member Don Wade, W8DEA on his recent
FEMA assignment. Due to scheduling difficulties, this program
will have to be postponed until later this year.
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As
a club member, not only will you have access to the autopatches
on our 2m and 70 cm repeaters, but you will also receive a monthly
subscription to our newsletter, 
The
club owns an emergency response 
