Hamfest Forum Schedule

2023 Melbourne Hamfest

Friday October 13

No forums on Friday at this time.

Saturday October 14

TimeForum TitleMain Presenter
09:00 AMTBDTBD
10:00 AMTBDTBD
11:00 AMTBDTBD
12:00 PMTBD
 
TBD
01:00 PMTBD
TBD
02:00 PMTBDTBD
Big thanks to Gary Bishop NQ0V for coordinating the forums!

All forums will be held in the forum room at the northeast corner of the main auditorium hall. An admission ticket is required to attend forums.

PCARS Field Day — 2023 is June 24-25

This year, Field Day is back, in full force. We are planning a complete activation of W4MLB, including CW & SSB stations, a 6 Meter station (if the band opens), a satellite station, & last but not least, our GOTA (Get on the Air) station, for hams licensed than a year, and also non-hams, family members, etc. 

Here is a very brief Field Day itinerary:

  • Friday,  June 24 —  
  • Saturday, June 25
  • 2PM Saturday — Field Day starts!!  “If you ain’t calling, they ain’t going to answer” – AF4Z Pizza & refreshments will be provided for the evening/overnight operating crew.
  • Sunday, June 26 — Field Day shuts down at 2PM. TEAR DOWN BEGINS.  This involves taking down everything temporary  (crank up tower, antennas, cables, etc.) & storing it back in place. This is always the most difficult part of Field Day, as most people are tired, ready to go home, etc. But, everything that was set up, must be taken down.

I can’t tell you how many times  I stayed after a full weekend, to assist K9ES, the formal Field Day Chairman, to take everything  down with little or no help. If you don’t come out for anything else all weekend,  please consider coming out at the end to help.

More information will be forthcoming, & the June General Meeting program will be dedicated to Field Day.

Mini SET Exercise — Go Kits!

go kit operation in Wickham Park

On the Saturday morning of Memorial Day weekend, May 29, 2021, members of PCARS got together to further the club’s emergency preparedness. The crew assembled at the club shack location at the city of Melbourne Fire Training Center. The purpose of the exercise was to get some more members familiar with the set up and operation of the go kits, and to test the radios’ operation in the field.

Demonstrating the equipment

Prior to this exercise, members had been encouraged to Adopt a Go Kit. This involved checking out a go kit and taking it home for a checkup and overhaul. Members charged the battery for the radio. They also updated the software and charged the batteries for the notebook PC.

The exercise started off with a short demonstration of the go kits for those who were not yet familiar with the components and operation. PCARS has six identical go kits. The major components of each kit:

  • Icom IC-2300H 2 meter only transceiver
  • 12V 35AH SLA battery
  • 110VAC to 12VDC power supply / battery charger
  • 2 x 50′ RG-58 coax with PL-259 connectors
  • Windows 10 notebook PC with two batteries
  • 2 meter J-pole antenna made from 450Ω ladder line
  • Assorted flashlight, tools, connectors, etc.
PCARS go kit with notebook PC

Once everyone was familiar with the equipment, the crew split up into teams. One team went north to Wickham Park. Three groups spread out and set up stations on the grounds of the Fire Training Center. The last group headed south to a private residence near the southern Melbourne city limits and set up in the backyard. This put five of the six kits into the field for testing. The other kit had been tested separately earlier.

NameCall
Don WinnAF4Z
Donald PurnhagenK4ILG
Walter Aucoin JrK5LD
Rob RailerK8RAR
Jim LaukKC9UD
Skip BushKD0CXT
David KnickerbockerKN4ZGM
Bill SchultzKO4NID
Bob CreswickNB4C
Phil TsoW7TSO
Deb MarklyWD8JPX
Alicia PeruginiN/A
Participating Members Present

With the help of the W4MLB station in the club shack, a directed net was established using the PCARS 146.610MHz repeater located at Holmes Regional Medical Center. After testing communications with all stations through that repeater, the group transitioned to the PCARS 146.850MHz repeater located near Turkey Creek in Palm Bay. Once all stations established a connection there, the group finally tested station to station traffic using the PCARS default emergency simplex frequency of 146.580 MHz. One kit had to have the battery replaced, but all communications were successful.

The antenna hung on a balcony

The exercise exposed several areas where things need to be improved. The emergency committee will get together and improve the programing and settings of the radios. A few additional components will also be added to each kit. One more ladder line J-pole antenna needs to be constructed. If there is enough interest, we could have a club project where members could make their own.

The antenna design is very practical. It can be built at a very low cost, and has several qualities which make it a good choice for an emergency, field deployable, antenna. They can be rolled up and stored very easily, and hung just about anyplace. During our exercise, the antennas were hung from low tree branches, and the eave of an outbuilding. Plans can be found in many publications, and of course on the internet.