Holland Amateur Radio Club K8DAA USA

The next E.A.T. meeting (Education And Training) will be held on Friday, January 25, 2019 at 7 pm at the Chick-Owa Sportsman’s Club located at 9279 E. Ottogan Street (just west of Winding Creek Golf Club). 

The club has purchased a series of instructional electronics videos which are around 30 minutes long.  This month the video is “Transistors and How They Work.”  Afterwards, there will be a review of an MMDVM digital radio “Hot Spot” by Dan Yonker, KN8X.  This tiny “Hot Spot,” which you can build yourself for $60.00 or less, supports DMR, D-STAR, System Fusion, and more.  If you own a digital radio or are thinking of buying one, this is an item you may want to have.

HARC E.A.T. sessions are open to the public and you do not need to be a HARC member or have an amateur radio license to attend.  If you have questions about amateur radio equipment, operating practices, licensing, test and measurement, or anything remotely related to amateur radio, this is the place to be.

The upcoming Winter Field Day (WFD) 2019 is scheduled for January 26 and 27 and will run for a full 24 hours from 1900 UTC (2 pm EST) Saturday to 1900 UTC (2 pm EST) Sunday.  Much like the ARRL’s June Field Day, Winter Field Day is not just a simple contest.  Operators world-wide are challenged to practice and exercise their emergency communications skills during the winter months, in the face of inclement weather or adverse conditions.  WFD is one more way to enjoy the hobby and demonstrate ham radio’s capability to operate in all environments.  Winter Field Day began in 2007, but this is the first time that the Holland Amateur Radio Club will be participating.

This is a rain or shine, snowing or blowing event, since we will operate indoors from two cabins at the Holland State Park (in the camping area on the right, just past Ottawa Beach Inn).  We’ll be setting up club operating stations, antennas, and amenities and camping out during the event.  If you would like to sign up for specific times to operate one of the stations (phone, digital and CW) during WFD, please contact Josh, KE8DSB, at secretary@hollandarc.org.

To make it easier for entrants to find each other, we’ll be using the WFD suggested frequencies:
HF CW – 1810-1820, 3.530-3.550, 7.030-7.050, 14.035-14.055, 21.030-21.050, 28.030-28.040

HF SSB – lowest 30 kHz of the US General Class Phone bands (160m- 15m), 28.400-28.425MHz (10m) 6m/VHF/UHF – adjacent to, but not on, nationally recognized simplex calling channels.

More Winter Field Day Association information is available at https://www.winterfieldday.com.  Holland ARC also has a Facebook page with our local club information at https://www.facebook.com/events/1895035050615406/.  Drop by, operate, or just check out the operation.  All warm bodies welcome!

The Holland Amateur Radio Club will be joining the Grand Rapids Amateur Radio Association, Michigan Amateur Radio Alliance, and the Lowell Amateur Radio Club for the annual “Get Outta the Cabin” dinner, formerly known as the “New Hams Dinner.”

The dinner will be held in a reserved room at the Pizza Ranch, 3858 28th St SE, in Kentwood on Saturday, February 23, 2019 beginning at 2:00 p.m.  Anyone interested in amateur radio is invited to the dinner.  You need not be a club member or even a licensed ham.  A menu and pricing for the Pizza Ranch buffet is available on their website: https://pizzaranch.com/locations/mi/kentwood/3858-28th-st–se. 

Hope to see you there!

The annual Kent/Ottawa County Skywarn class will be held Tuesday evening, March 12, at Grandville Middle School.  The event is free and open to anyone of any age but especially targets residents of Kent and Ottawa County age 16 and up.  It is limited to the first 400 people who sign up.  Doors open at 6 pm with the training from 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm.  Please enter from the Canal Street entrance to the school.

The material presented covers the basics of being a SKYWARN storm spotter, including learning about severe thunderstorms, funnel clouds and tornadoes, safety considerations for all hazards, spotter report criteria and spotter procedures.  Becoming an official storm spotter for the county is optional after the training, not required.

SKYWARN storm spotter training participants should print out their free tickets at the eventbrite website and bring them with them to the training, as the personal information on the tickets will be used by the National Weather Service.  To register for the event, visit skywarn2019.eventbrite.com.  Registration is open through March 5.  Seats not filled by 6:20 on March 12 will be open to walk-ins.

On Saturday, March 9, 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 your Social Security number (SSN) if you are not yet licensed.  If you do not wish to give out your SSN at the test (the paperwork goes to the FCC and is not kept by the club), you can obtain your Federal Registration Number (FRN) before the test, by going to this website:  https://apps.fcc.gov/coresWeb/regEntityType.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. 

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!

Due to conflicts with the use of the clubhouse, our meeting days will change from Tuesday to Friday for January, February, and March, 2019.    The plan at this time is to change back to our regular Tuesday dates from April forward.  Thus:

General HARC meetings will be held on Fridays – February 8, and March 8.

Education and Training meetings will be held on Fridays – January 25, February 22, and March 22.

“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.

There is a PDF uploaded that has pictures of the 2018 field day.

Holland ARC Field Day 2018

And Zach, KE8BSM has uploaded a great video to Youtube:

After years of being with the Yahoo Groups, and after much heartache, the Holland ARC has moved over to the groups.io email list server. Superior service is here.

If you did not get the email on how to sign up, please go to:

https://k8daa.groups.io/g/k8daa

From there you will see “apply for membership” icon. Click on that and follow the instructions and we should be good to go.

The archives are available at any time to be read without logging in.  Todd, W8YHF ported over thousands of emails from the Yahoo Group.