Holland Amateur Radio Club K8DAA USA

The second week of May is Tulip Time in Holland and that means flowers and parades. The Holland Amateur Radio Club, along with other area amateur radio operators, support the event while having a lot of fun!  The Red Cross supplies a box lunch, beverages, safety vests, and instructions.  There’s a variety of positions for volunteers, but most operators are paired with Red Cross medical personnel to provide communication for them as the teams each cover a block or so of the parade route.  About 20 radio personnel are needed for the Wednesday and Thursday parades and 25 for the Saturday parade.

We have not yet received the details for this year’s parades, but if it follows past years, we will meet at a predetermined location and the Red Cross will arrange for private bus transportation for us to and from the parades, so there are no worries about traffic or parking.  The bus generally picks us up about 11am.  All of the parades begin at 2pm and end about 3:30pm.  Details will be passed on to volunteers as they are received.

No medical or parade experience is necessary.  Please bring your 2-meter handheld transceiver, headphones, and some extra batteries to use if needed.  We will be our own net, with our own net control operator.  If you’d like to join in the fun while performing a community service, please contact Tom, k8tb@bosscher.org.  You may also request a particular location or position at that time.

Eight persons attended the HARC Ham in a Day session on Saturday, April 13, and as a result, we can welcome seven new amateur radio Technicians and one who came in with a lapsed Advanced license and left as a new General!  The new hams from our area include Joshua Johnson KE8LYT, Jonathan Vanden Berg KE8LYP, and Paul Vanden Berg KE8LYO, all from Hudsonville.  Ried Meyer KE8LYS of Holland, who studied on his own, took and passed the Tech exam as well.  So whether you see them in person or hear them on the air, be sure to congratulate these new Techs on their achievement and invite them to a club event!

If you know of anyone who has recently gotten their license or has upgraded, please let the webmaster know so we can pass along kudos to them as well.

At the last HARC meeting, it was decided that we should split out “swap” messages into their own mailing list on groups.io.  A new list has been set up so that anyone already subscribed to the main K8DAA group will be able to post by sending a message to buysell@k8daa.groups.io.  If you’d like to subscribe to the new list to receive the messages by email, however, you’ll need to send an email to buysell+subscribe@k8daa.groups.io.

More details about the new subgroup are available here:
https://k8daa.groups.io/g/buysell

Don’t forget – our club meetings are back on Tuesdays!  We will have as a special guest, Nick Bonstell, Director of Ottawa County Emergency Management.  He will be giving a presentation on long term emergency planning in situations such as long term power loss over a wide area for a week plus.  This is a topic that became relevant very quickly during this year’s winter storms and no doubt will surface again.  Will we be better prepared next time?  Find out how to be ready for whatever type of emergency might strike!

Join the fun at the Holland Amateur Radio Club’s monthly general membership meeting Tuesday night, May 14 at 7:00pm at the Chick-Owa Sportsman’s Club, 9279 E. Ottogan St., Holland.

You need not be a member or even a ham to attend.  All interested in amateur radio and emergency planning are welcome!

Members of the Holland Amateur Radio Club will be giving a presentation to the Lakeshore Makers group at the Herrick Public Library, 300 S. River Avenue, in Holland beginning at 6:30pm.  Their topic will be “Getting Started in Amateur Radio.”

If you know anyone who has an interest in becoming licensed, please invite them!  You don’t need to be a member of either group to attend.

If you are interested in DMR, the Holland ARC has put a DMR repeater in service, co-located with the 147.06 and the analog UHF repeater at the Holland Community Hospital.

Details: Rptr out 443.8875  Rptr in 448.8875

Color Code is 4   (Repeater is connected to the Brandmeister Network)

Static Talk Groups

Slot 1      3169 (Midwest),   31261 (Mi5-Statewide 1),   31608 (USA Area 8)

Slot 2     3126 (Michigan),    31262  (Mi5-Statewide 2),    31267 (West Michigan),

31268 (UP of Michigan),    31269 (West Michigan Technical group)

Other Brandmeister talkgroups are available using PTT.

This repeater is for experimenting and having fun. Quite a bit of activity on the West Michigan Talk Group, 31267.

The Holland ARC wishes to thank Sam, K8SN and Mike, KB8ZGL for their helping hands in this project.

On Saturday, July 13, the Holland Amateur Radio Club will be holding licensing exams for anyone wishing to get or upgrade their amateur radio license .  The testing will be held at the Chick-Owa Sportsmans Club, 9279 Ottogan St., Holland.  The testing session will begin at 6:00 p.m.  There is no charge for any testing.  No Morse code is required for any grade license.  In addition, if your license is within 90 days of expiration, it can quickly be renewed at no charge between 6:00 and the end of testing.

What to bring with you:  If available, bring a legal photo ID such as a driver’s license or passport.  If no legal photo ID is available, bring 2 pieces of legal ID.  Anyone 16 years old or younger must have a parent or legal guardian present for the entire testing session.  IMPORTANT… If you currently hold a ham radio license, bring the license and a copy of the license to the test session.  (Copy will be sent in with the testing results.)   

Note:  This is a federal exam and the FCC requires you to have an FRN.    You can obtain your Federal Registration Number (FRN) before the test, by going to this website:   https://apps.fcc.gov/cores/userLogin.do   The FCC FRN process is simple, and quite fast. 

For further information on license testing, please email Bob Broene, K8RJB, at k8rjb[dot]ham[at]gmail.com. 

“Ham in a Day”  will be held at the Chick-Owa Sportsman’s Club located at 9279 E. Ottogan Street (just west of Winding Creek) in Holland.  This is an opportunity for anyone wishing to get their amateur radio technician license to study and take the exam all in one afternoon.  Directed study starts at 1:00 and continues till 6:00, when the test will be given.  For registration and more information, go to: http://tinyurl.com/holo-hiad-ve.  Cost for the Ham in a Day study session is $25 (which includes the book Ham Radio by Bob Heil), but there is no cost for testing.  Also, anyone holding a current technician or general license may arrive at 6:00 and take the test to upgrade at no cost.  Anyone whose license is within 90 days of expiring can also renew their license between 6:00 and the end of testing at no charge.

If you haven’t already done so, please join the Holland Amateur Radio Club for another successful year by renewing your membership today.  This club is active and growing and we need your support to keep the ball rolling.  Where else can you have so much fun for so little cost?  And how easy can it be to pay those dues?  Just bring your $25 (single) or $35 (family) dues to the next meeting, OR mail it to Holland Amateur Radio Club, PO Box 2104, Holland, MI 49422-2104 OR you can use Paypal.  Even if you don’t have a Paypal account, you can still pay online using your credit card. Details are on the membership page:  http://www.hollandarc.org/?page_id=2458.

The Holland Amateur Radio Club values your membership and your support.  Thank you!

Support us when you shop on Amazon. Go to smile.amazon.com/ch/38-2136386 and Amazon will donate a percentage to Holland Amateur Radio Club.  This adds nothing to the cost of your purchase but benefits the club.  Thanks!