Happy Holidays,
As a reminder, RACK Club memberships expire December 31, 2010. In order to make the renewal process easier you can now renew or join online. All you have to do is download the membership application and fill it out (see link to the right). At the bottom left side of the application is a button to submit via email. Once submitted you can make payment via the "Pay Now" button on right side of this webpage. Make sure you select the payment option and provide name/callsign in the boxes provided and then hit the "pay now" button. It's that simple. For those that prefer the traditional methods can print out the application and bring it to the next club meeting or you can mail it along with your check to:
Radio Amateurs Club of Knoxville
P.O. Box 50514
Knoxville, TN 37950-0514
I look forward to seeing you at the next meeting,
Joe Meighan, KB4REC
President
Radio Amateur Club of Knoxville
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
President’s Message for September 2010
Hello Fellow Amateurs,
First of all, I want to take a moment to thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve as the President of the RACK club for the next twelve months. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank past President, Jim Norman for his hard work and dedication to the club over the last few years. I hope to be able to continue his legacy. As President, my number one goal is to work to increase our club membership. As you may, or may not know, the RACK Club has been around since 1954 and our membership has seen ups and downs. At one time, not too long ago, we had a membership base of approximately 300 members. Today, even though we have seen a small growth spurt, we are no where near where we once were. The question is; how do we increase our membership? It will require some interesting activities as well as member participation. Kevin McCready, K4MCK is working diligently to line up guest speakers for our upcoming meetings. For the September 16th meeting, Bill Renaud, WR4MS will have a presentation and live demonstration on PSK31 digital communications. If you want to learn about PSK you don’t want to miss this meeting.
On Saturday September 11th, the RACK club will participate in the annual Marine Corps Mud Run by providing communications support for the event. If you would like to participate, contact Jim Norman, N4CFB@tds.net , he is still looking for volunteers.
David Waters, AC4JF has done a great job implementing some new technology that is available to members to enhance the membership experience. The HAMCAM and RIBS (Remote Internet Base Station) have been a big hit with our members. David has also been working with Paypal to get the club set up to accept payment for membership applications as well as for tax deductible donations. This should be fully functional within the next few weeks. We hope to be able to add additional membership benefits in the near future.
Another change includes an updated web page. Joe Campbell, KG4UJC has done an excellent job with a major web site overhaul. Several new items have been added, one of which is a calendar of events. See http://w4bbb.org/calendar/rack10-11.pdf . Joe is also building a member projects page. He is asking members to send him photos and details about ham radio related projects. Please participate by sending him information to post on the projects page. If you have not seen our web site in a while, be sure to check it out @ www.w4bbb.org. You will want to check it often, because it is constantly updated.
I look forward to seeing you at the next meeting, be sure to bring a guest.
73’
Joe Meighan, KB4REC
RACK President
First of all, I want to take a moment to thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve as the President of the RACK club for the next twelve months. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank past President, Jim Norman for his hard work and dedication to the club over the last few years. I hope to be able to continue his legacy. As President, my number one goal is to work to increase our club membership. As you may, or may not know, the RACK Club has been around since 1954 and our membership has seen ups and downs. At one time, not too long ago, we had a membership base of approximately 300 members. Today, even though we have seen a small growth spurt, we are no where near where we once were. The question is; how do we increase our membership? It will require some interesting activities as well as member participation. Kevin McCready, K4MCK is working diligently to line up guest speakers for our upcoming meetings. For the September 16th meeting, Bill Renaud, WR4MS will have a presentation and live demonstration on PSK31 digital communications. If you want to learn about PSK you don’t want to miss this meeting.
On Saturday September 11th, the RACK club will participate in the annual Marine Corps Mud Run by providing communications support for the event. If you would like to participate, contact Jim Norman, N4CFB@tds.net , he is still looking for volunteers.
David Waters, AC4JF has done a great job implementing some new technology that is available to members to enhance the membership experience. The HAMCAM and RIBS (Remote Internet Base Station) have been a big hit with our members. David has also been working with Paypal to get the club set up to accept payment for membership applications as well as for tax deductible donations. This should be fully functional within the next few weeks. We hope to be able to add additional membership benefits in the near future.
Another change includes an updated web page. Joe Campbell, KG4UJC has done an excellent job with a major web site overhaul. Several new items have been added, one of which is a calendar of events. See http://w4bbb.org/calendar/rack10-11.pdf . Joe is also building a member projects page. He is asking members to send him photos and details about ham radio related projects. Please participate by sending him information to post on the projects page. If you have not seen our web site in a while, be sure to check it out @ www.w4bbb.org. You will want to check it often, because it is constantly updated.
I look forward to seeing you at the next meeting, be sure to bring a guest.
73’
Joe Meighan, KB4REC
RACK President
Sunday, July 25, 2010
President’s Message for August ‘10
Hello Fellow Amateurs,
The annual Hamfest for 2010 is in the books and it was a great success in
more than one way. The weather was great, attendance was up and the
fellowship was even better. Lou, WB3JKQ, put on an outstanding event that
the club can be proud of. The plans for next year are already in the making
and will be here before we know it, so volunteer now for next year.
Our Field Day was one to remember. We had many bands and modes of
operation up and running for contesting and for display. A couple of key
happenings were the solar powered repeater that was on the air and the
inflatable 37ft. tower we had for display and use. DavidWaters, AC4JF, had
our Winnlink 2000 repeater on the air and a display on the use of it. With
the temperature in the high 90’s, the biggest challenge was to keep cool at Ft.
Dickerson Park.
The last couple of meetings have been filled with conversation and
discussion about happenings in the club.With the new remote base station
on the air, 35x camera, and Winnlink 2000 repeater, we have not been short
on discussion topics. The addition of internet at our repeater site has opened
a new world of high technology to us. I think the future guest speakers and
topics will be a result of some of these discussions and new equipment we
have on the mountain.
Another discussion we have had, is the nomination and election of our
Board of Directors. The nomination committee of Jim Snyder, AJ4NO,
Willard Sitton, W4HZD, and Jack Creed, K4EPC, worked tirelessly and
produced a full slate of nominees. There were no nominations from the floor,
and the nominees were elected for the next year. The board is as follows:
Joe Meighan, KB4REC, President
Kevin McCready, K4MCK, 1st Vice President
David Hickman, KF4EQR, 2nd Vice President
Jack Creed, K4EPC 3rd Vice President
Willard Sitton, W4HZD, Education Chairman
David Bower, K4PZT, Public Information Officer
Lou Dreinhofer, WB3JKQ, Hamfest Chairman
Treasurer, Ron Haynes Sr, KJ4IAU, Treasurer
Angela Hickman, KG4GUN, Secretary
David Waters, AC4JF, Trustee(previously elected till 2020)
These officers have a good feel for the future and I believe will direct the
club in a good and positive direction. I want to give a very special thanks to
David Waters,AC4JF, for putting many hours of work on the mountain and
at his home to keep our equipment up and running. Networks of computers,
banks of batteries, programming for hours, are just a short version of what
he does for us. Thanks David.
As I leave the office of President, I want to thank all of the members for
letting me have the priviledge of being “The Prez” for the past few years.
We have set out on a great direction of servicing the amateur community
with the best and I know we have the best board to continue the work.
Thanks again! Keep our military troops in your prayer, See you at the meetings,
Jim Norman, N4CFB
President
The annual Hamfest for 2010 is in the books and it was a great success in
more than one way. The weather was great, attendance was up and the
fellowship was even better. Lou, WB3JKQ, put on an outstanding event that
the club can be proud of. The plans for next year are already in the making
and will be here before we know it, so volunteer now for next year.
Our Field Day was one to remember. We had many bands and modes of
operation up and running for contesting and for display. A couple of key
happenings were the solar powered repeater that was on the air and the
inflatable 37ft. tower we had for display and use. DavidWaters, AC4JF, had
our Winnlink 2000 repeater on the air and a display on the use of it. With
the temperature in the high 90’s, the biggest challenge was to keep cool at Ft.
Dickerson Park.
The last couple of meetings have been filled with conversation and
discussion about happenings in the club.With the new remote base station
on the air, 35x camera, and Winnlink 2000 repeater, we have not been short
on discussion topics. The addition of internet at our repeater site has opened
a new world of high technology to us. I think the future guest speakers and
topics will be a result of some of these discussions and new equipment we
have on the mountain.
Another discussion we have had, is the nomination and election of our
Board of Directors. The nomination committee of Jim Snyder, AJ4NO,
Willard Sitton, W4HZD, and Jack Creed, K4EPC, worked tirelessly and
produced a full slate of nominees. There were no nominations from the floor,
and the nominees were elected for the next year. The board is as follows:
Joe Meighan, KB4REC, President
Kevin McCready, K4MCK, 1st Vice President
David Hickman, KF4EQR, 2nd Vice President
Jack Creed, K4EPC 3rd Vice President
Willard Sitton, W4HZD, Education Chairman
David Bower, K4PZT, Public Information Officer
Lou Dreinhofer, WB3JKQ, Hamfest Chairman
Treasurer, Ron Haynes Sr, KJ4IAU, Treasurer
Angela Hickman, KG4GUN, Secretary
David Waters, AC4JF, Trustee(previously elected till 2020)
These officers have a good feel for the future and I believe will direct the
club in a good and positive direction. I want to give a very special thanks to
David Waters,AC4JF, for putting many hours of work on the mountain and
at his home to keep our equipment up and running. Networks of computers,
banks of batteries, programming for hours, are just a short version of what
he does for us. Thanks David.
As I leave the office of President, I want to thank all of the members for
letting me have the priviledge of being “The Prez” for the past few years.
We have set out on a great direction of servicing the amateur community
with the best and I know we have the best board to continue the work.
Thanks again! Keep our military troops in your prayer, See you at the meetings,
Jim Norman, N4CFB
President
Monday, May 3, 2010
President’s Corner for May 2010
Greetings Fellow Amateurs,
Hello to all from the Lowlands of Halls. I just want to say that if you haven’t been to a RACK meeting lately, you have been missing out on lots of information and good times. We are fast approaching the month of June which is very busy for the club. We have our Hamfest on the 12th, regular meeting on the 17th and Field Day on the 4th weekend which is the 26th & 27th. If you participate in these events, you will be very busy. I encourage all Hams to join us and bring a friend to these events.
Lou, WB3JKQ, is working very hard to give us a successful event. He has venders, forums and “things” for us to enjoy. If you haven’t signed up to assist us, even for a short time or on Friday, I’m sure Lou would appreciate a call for you to volunteer. Kerbela Temple is where it will be held and we will have a talk-in on our repeater system, 147.300 on 2m.
Our Field Day event will be at Ft. Dickerson Park in south Knoxville, our site for many years. We will have many rigs going, many antennas to hang, and many meals to serve. So bring yourself on up and help out with our event. Work should start about 10:00AM
The May meeting will feature a talk and show&tell by Mr. Joe Meighan, KB4REC. Joe has had much experience in this area, being the owner of 6m, 70cm repeaters in the Knoxville area. All attendees will be treated to a wealth of knowledge and information on building a repeater. I encourage all Hams to attend and bring a friend.
Join us on our Nets on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday all beginning at 9:00pm. Information and knowledge is shared and everyone is welcome to join us. Sunday’s NC is Jack Creed, K4EPC, Monday’s is Jerry Whetsone, N4IJL, and Tuesdays is Jerry Fontaine, N4VQY. Bring a friend to these nets and enjoy the fellowship and information that is shared.
The Hamcam and remote internet station is on the air. Information is on our website to sign up for use. David Waters, AC4JF, is busy keeping our requests for us of our rig and camera. A big thanks goes out to David for doing this for the club.
That is all for now, Keep our Military troops in your prayers, See you at the meeting,
Jim Norman, N4CFB
President
Radio Amateur Club of Knoxville
Hello to all from the Lowlands of Halls. I just want to say that if you haven’t been to a RACK meeting lately, you have been missing out on lots of information and good times. We are fast approaching the month of June which is very busy for the club. We have our Hamfest on the 12th, regular meeting on the 17th and Field Day on the 4th weekend which is the 26th & 27th. If you participate in these events, you will be very busy. I encourage all Hams to join us and bring a friend to these events.
Lou, WB3JKQ, is working very hard to give us a successful event. He has venders, forums and “things” for us to enjoy. If you haven’t signed up to assist us, even for a short time or on Friday, I’m sure Lou would appreciate a call for you to volunteer. Kerbela Temple is where it will be held and we will have a talk-in on our repeater system, 147.300 on 2m.
Our Field Day event will be at Ft. Dickerson Park in south Knoxville, our site for many years. We will have many rigs going, many antennas to hang, and many meals to serve. So bring yourself on up and help out with our event. Work should start about 10:00AM
The May meeting will feature a talk and show&tell by Mr. Joe Meighan, KB4REC. Joe has had much experience in this area, being the owner of 6m, 70cm repeaters in the Knoxville area. All attendees will be treated to a wealth of knowledge and information on building a repeater. I encourage all Hams to attend and bring a friend.
Join us on our Nets on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday all beginning at 9:00pm. Information and knowledge is shared and everyone is welcome to join us. Sunday’s NC is Jack Creed, K4EPC, Monday’s is Jerry Whetsone, N4IJL, and Tuesdays is Jerry Fontaine, N4VQY. Bring a friend to these nets and enjoy the fellowship and information that is shared.
The Hamcam and remote internet station is on the air. Information is on our website to sign up for use. David Waters, AC4JF, is busy keeping our requests for us of our rig and camera. A big thanks goes out to David for doing this for the club.
That is all for now, Keep our Military troops in your prayers, See you at the meeting,
Jim Norman, N4CFB
President
Radio Amateur Club of Knoxville
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
President’s Corner for April 2010
Hello Fellow Amateurs,
Spring has come upon us and now is the time to get all the tower and antenna projects underway. Speaking of antenna projects, I am pleased to announce we have our HF remote rig installed. With a few bugs to work out before turning it over to our membership, I look forward to hearing it on the air and seeing smiling faces from the users.
We also have our 35x PTZ camera up and running. It does come with some limitations. As soon as the user protocol has been worked out we will also turn it over to the membership. We have some snapshots posted on our blog at w4bbb.blogspot.com, so check them out to get an idea of the potential for viewing.
We had a great turnout for our March meeting, and I want to thank Kevin Duplantis, W4KEV, for hosting the event. He covered a lot of ground with his tour of the facilities. I don’t know any other place that has commercial and amateur repeaters, television and FM radio stations at one site. Thanks Kevin for a great presentation. And I know he had nothing to do with this, but WHAT A VIEW!
Over the next few months, we are going to have a blast at our meetings and events. Our annual Hamfest will be held on June 12, 2010 at Kerbela Temple. Field Day will be on June 26& 27 at Ft. Dickerson park in south Knoxville. Our May meeting will be on how to build a repeater which will be a show and tell event.
The April meeting will also be of interest to all of us. I have no doubt that any Ham that has internet access has used QRZ.com. The guest speaker will be Mr. Patrick Thrush, AE1PT, who is general manager for QRZ.com. He will bring some very interesting insights into amateur radio’s most used website. I have no doubt in my mind that everyone in attendance will have questions for Patrick to answer, so my suggestion will be to plan on attending our April meeting.
We will be taking nominations from the floor for the office of Trustee. David Waters, AC4JF, has agreed to take the position if he is elected to the position. He was nominated for trustee and we will vote on this at the April meeting.
I want to thank all our members for supporting the club. Bring a fellow Ham or family member or friend to our meetings. Everyone is welcome, 7:00pm, Wallace Memorial Baptist Church on Merchants Drive.
Keep our military troops in your prayers.
See you at our next meeting,
Jim Norman, N4CFB
President
NOTE: Our meeting room has permanently changed. It will be in the same room as the VE testing is held. Signs will be posted.
Spring has come upon us and now is the time to get all the tower and antenna projects underway. Speaking of antenna projects, I am pleased to announce we have our HF remote rig installed. With a few bugs to work out before turning it over to our membership, I look forward to hearing it on the air and seeing smiling faces from the users.
We also have our 35x PTZ camera up and running. It does come with some limitations. As soon as the user protocol has been worked out we will also turn it over to the membership. We have some snapshots posted on our blog at w4bbb.blogspot.com, so check them out to get an idea of the potential for viewing.
We had a great turnout for our March meeting, and I want to thank Kevin Duplantis, W4KEV, for hosting the event. He covered a lot of ground with his tour of the facilities. I don’t know any other place that has commercial and amateur repeaters, television and FM radio stations at one site. Thanks Kevin for a great presentation. And I know he had nothing to do with this, but WHAT A VIEW!
Over the next few months, we are going to have a blast at our meetings and events. Our annual Hamfest will be held on June 12, 2010 at Kerbela Temple. Field Day will be on June 26& 27 at Ft. Dickerson park in south Knoxville. Our May meeting will be on how to build a repeater which will be a show and tell event.
The April meeting will also be of interest to all of us. I have no doubt that any Ham that has internet access has used QRZ.com. The guest speaker will be Mr. Patrick Thrush, AE1PT, who is general manager for QRZ.com. He will bring some very interesting insights into amateur radio’s most used website. I have no doubt in my mind that everyone in attendance will have questions for Patrick to answer, so my suggestion will be to plan on attending our April meeting.
We will be taking nominations from the floor for the office of Trustee. David Waters, AC4JF, has agreed to take the position if he is elected to the position. He was nominated for trustee and we will vote on this at the April meeting.
I want to thank all our members for supporting the club. Bring a fellow Ham or family member or friend to our meetings. Everyone is welcome, 7:00pm, Wallace Memorial Baptist Church on Merchants Drive.
Keep our military troops in your prayers.
See you at our next meeting,
Jim Norman, N4CFB
President
NOTE: Our meeting room has permanently changed. It will be in the same room as the VE testing is held. Signs will be posted.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
President's Corner for March 2010
Hello Fellow Amateurs,
With all the snow we have had lately, I hope everybody’s antenna farm has held up under the stress. I checked my tower guys just to make sure they were secure and used binoculars to check things up on the tower.
If you were at the last meeting, you know we had an excellent discussion about antennas for our repeater site project. The discussion involved vertical, horizontal in different configurations. This was participated by all and I learned a lot by listening to other Hams giving their opinions. We have an abundance of knowledge among us, and we should share this with others to help each other with our own projects.
As I write this, we have a tentative date to go on the mountain and install our new “stuff” on the 13th of March. Snow has kept us off the site to get this project completed. I hope the weather will cooperate with us to get this completed very soon. I know the members will like to see it on the air also. Then we can have some training sessions on how to remotely operate the rig over the internet.
Our March meeting will be a road trip. We have been invited by Kevin DuPlantis, W4KEV, to be his guest at the studios of South Central Communications. The studios are located on Sharps Ridge.
As you start up to the top of the park, the first station on the right with the REALLY steep drive is where we are going. The address is 1100 Sharps Ridge Memorial Park Drive, 37917. Studios and transmitter are located at this site. We may be in for a treat, with the recent problems they had on the ridge. We will have to show up to see what that treat may be. Kevin also owns several repeaters in our area that have very good coverage for East Tennessee.
Just a reminder, our annual dues are payable now. Our treasurer is doing a fantastic job of keeping up with all the new members and regular payments that we have. Thanks Ron.
At our last meeting, we elected a new secretary. The new office holder is Angela Hickman, KG4GUN. Our former secretary, Katie Helms, resigned due to personal obligations. Welcome aboard Angela.
Lou Dreinhoefer, WB3JKQ, is working hard on our Hamfest. He has dealers lined up and is looking for volunteers to work the event to make it work smoothly. See Lou to sign up to help.
David Waters, AC4JF, the club trustee, is working very hard to get our new project on the air and keeping our existing repeaters operating. This is a time consuming job that we really appreciate him doing for us. Thanks David.
That’s all for this month. I hope the next time I write an article, we will be talking about the new remotely operated site.
Keep our Military troops in your prayers,
See you at the meeting,
Jim Norman, N4CFB
President
With all the snow we have had lately, I hope everybody’s antenna farm has held up under the stress. I checked my tower guys just to make sure they were secure and used binoculars to check things up on the tower.
If you were at the last meeting, you know we had an excellent discussion about antennas for our repeater site project. The discussion involved vertical, horizontal in different configurations. This was participated by all and I learned a lot by listening to other Hams giving their opinions. We have an abundance of knowledge among us, and we should share this with others to help each other with our own projects.
As I write this, we have a tentative date to go on the mountain and install our new “stuff” on the 13th of March. Snow has kept us off the site to get this project completed. I hope the weather will cooperate with us to get this completed very soon. I know the members will like to see it on the air also. Then we can have some training sessions on how to remotely operate the rig over the internet.
Our March meeting will be a road trip. We have been invited by Kevin DuPlantis, W4KEV, to be his guest at the studios of South Central Communications. The studios are located on Sharps Ridge.
As you start up to the top of the park, the first station on the right with the REALLY steep drive is where we are going. The address is 1100 Sharps Ridge Memorial Park Drive, 37917. Studios and transmitter are located at this site. We may be in for a treat, with the recent problems they had on the ridge. We will have to show up to see what that treat may be. Kevin also owns several repeaters in our area that have very good coverage for East Tennessee.
Just a reminder, our annual dues are payable now. Our treasurer is doing a fantastic job of keeping up with all the new members and regular payments that we have. Thanks Ron.
At our last meeting, we elected a new secretary. The new office holder is Angela Hickman, KG4GUN. Our former secretary, Katie Helms, resigned due to personal obligations. Welcome aboard Angela.
Lou Dreinhoefer, WB3JKQ, is working hard on our Hamfest. He has dealers lined up and is looking for volunteers to work the event to make it work smoothly. See Lou to sign up to help.
David Waters, AC4JF, the club trustee, is working very hard to get our new project on the air and keeping our existing repeaters operating. This is a time consuming job that we really appreciate him doing for us. Thanks David.
That’s all for this month. I hope the next time I write an article, we will be talking about the new remotely operated site.
Keep our Military troops in your prayers,
See you at the meeting,
Jim Norman, N4CFB
President
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
February Meeting
Hello To All,
Just a quick update on our remote HF rig and camera. As of this writing, we haven't had a chance to get to the Mtn. to have a work day. As soon as weather permits, we will get the rig installed. It is a very tough trip to get to the site, so please bear with us.
I would like to have a talk with the Club and discuss future direction for RACK. We have had these in the past and were very productive and good to get all points of view. As was announced in our meetings, we are in need of a Hamfest Chairman for the future. He will be in charge of the 2011 Hamfest. A potential person has the opportunity of working with our present Chairman and learn how it is organized, the people involved with putting it on, etc. These discussions and others will be brought up at our February meeting.
I look forward to seeing you at our next meeting. Keep our Military troops in your prayers.
Jim Norman, N4CFB
President, RACK
Just a quick update on our remote HF rig and camera. As of this writing, we haven't had a chance to get to the Mtn. to have a work day. As soon as weather permits, we will get the rig installed. It is a very tough trip to get to the site, so please bear with us.
I would like to have a talk with the Club and discuss future direction for RACK. We have had these in the past and were very productive and good to get all points of view. As was announced in our meetings, we are in need of a Hamfest Chairman for the future. He will be in charge of the 2011 Hamfest. A potential person has the opportunity of working with our present Chairman and learn how it is organized, the people involved with putting it on, etc. These discussions and others will be brought up at our February meeting.
I look forward to seeing you at our next meeting. Keep our Military troops in your prayers.
Jim Norman, N4CFB
President, RACK
President’s Message for 2010
Hello Fellow Amateurs,
The New Year is upon us and I hope that this writing finds you off to a good
start. The purpose of this letter is to review recent projects and inform every
one of the future projects in which we are involved.
This past year has seen many upgrades to our repeater system. The 6m split
site was consolidated to one site. One of the main reasons for this was the
logistics of maintaining two sites. With our limited resources, the split site
just wasn’t working. We installed a new Sinclair folded dipole antenna,
linked the 6m band into our existing linked system and now we have (4)
bands covered by our repeaters. The four repeaters can be linked or run as
independent repeaters as best needed.
Now, let's review our latest project. We have acquired high speed internet
service to our site, which will open a whole new world for us. We have
installed a Davis weather station at our site. The data collection portion is
located at approximately 60ft. up on our tower. It collects, temperature,
outside humidity, solar radiation, and a rain gage. The anemometer and wind
direction is located at approximately 85ft on our tower. The link to the
weather station is www.weatherlink.com/user/rack. There is also a link on
our website. This is a very helpful and entertaining tool for our members and
also our site host, the Forestry Service of Tennessee.
We have plans of installing a pan, tilt, and zoom camera at the highest
available point on the tower. This will have a 360 degree view and let me
assure you, the view is beautiful. Downtown Knoxville, Seymour, Maryville,
Clinch Mountains, SmokyMountains,Wears Valley are just a few points
that can be seen. This will also be available to the club and our site host.
The club voted to acquire a Kenwood TS-480 SAT for use at our site as a
remote HF station. As of this writing, it is in testing stage and not on the air
at out site. Testing should be complete soon and members will be able to
access for our use.
If these new avenues work out, the possibilities are endless as to what we
can do. Use your imagination and let’s get some new ideas circulating for
projects to do. The Board of RACK is open to all suggestions and we
welcome them. Some members have voiced negative concerns of where the
club is headed. Having said that, I want you to ask yourself the question; if
every club member were just like me, what kind of club would our club be?
I want every member and new member to find an area in the club that is
your expertise or interest and share it with the rest of us. I encourage you to
be our guest speaker at a meeting. We would love to hear your knowledge
and experience, so share it with your fellow amateurs.
The Club’s Hamfest in June is on schedule for yet another great event. Lou,
WB3JKQ, is organizing with vendors, large and small to assure another
successful and profitable undertaking RACK. We will be needing volunteers
for many positions to work and make it fun for all.
Just a reminder, annual dues are being accepted at this time. Our treasurer,
Ron, KJ4IAU, will be writing receipts for those who want to pay dues at our
meeting. You can always mail them to our PO Box if you choose. Our
membership is down from years past, so please bring a friend or fellow Ham
and join in the fun of being a RACK member.
I look forward to seeing you at a future meeting.
Keep our Military troops in your prayers,
Jim Norman, N4CFB
President, Radio Amateur Club of Knoxville
The New Year is upon us and I hope that this writing finds you off to a good
start. The purpose of this letter is to review recent projects and inform every
one of the future projects in which we are involved.
This past year has seen many upgrades to our repeater system. The 6m split
site was consolidated to one site. One of the main reasons for this was the
logistics of maintaining two sites. With our limited resources, the split site
just wasn’t working. We installed a new Sinclair folded dipole antenna,
linked the 6m band into our existing linked system and now we have (4)
bands covered by our repeaters. The four repeaters can be linked or run as
independent repeaters as best needed.
Now, let's review our latest project. We have acquired high speed internet
service to our site, which will open a whole new world for us. We have
installed a Davis weather station at our site. The data collection portion is
located at approximately 60ft. up on our tower. It collects, temperature,
outside humidity, solar radiation, and a rain gage. The anemometer and wind
direction is located at approximately 85ft on our tower. The link to the
weather station is www.weatherlink.com/user/rack. There is also a link on
our website. This is a very helpful and entertaining tool for our members and
also our site host, the Forestry Service of Tennessee.
We have plans of installing a pan, tilt, and zoom camera at the highest
available point on the tower. This will have a 360 degree view and let me
assure you, the view is beautiful. Downtown Knoxville, Seymour, Maryville,
Clinch Mountains, SmokyMountains,Wears Valley are just a few points
that can be seen. This will also be available to the club and our site host.
The club voted to acquire a Kenwood TS-480 SAT for use at our site as a
remote HF station. As of this writing, it is in testing stage and not on the air
at out site. Testing should be complete soon and members will be able to
access for our use.
If these new avenues work out, the possibilities are endless as to what we
can do. Use your imagination and let’s get some new ideas circulating for
projects to do. The Board of RACK is open to all suggestions and we
welcome them. Some members have voiced negative concerns of where the
club is headed. Having said that, I want you to ask yourself the question; if
every club member were just like me, what kind of club would our club be?
I want every member and new member to find an area in the club that is
your expertise or interest and share it with the rest of us. I encourage you to
be our guest speaker at a meeting. We would love to hear your knowledge
and experience, so share it with your fellow amateurs.
The Club’s Hamfest in June is on schedule for yet another great event. Lou,
WB3JKQ, is organizing with vendors, large and small to assure another
successful and profitable undertaking RACK. We will be needing volunteers
for many positions to work and make it fun for all.
Just a reminder, annual dues are being accepted at this time. Our treasurer,
Ron, KJ4IAU, will be writing receipts for those who want to pay dues at our
meeting. You can always mail them to our PO Box if you choose. Our
membership is down from years past, so please bring a friend or fellow Ham
and join in the fun of being a RACK member.
I look forward to seeing you at a future meeting.
Keep our Military troops in your prayers,
Jim Norman, N4CFB
President, Radio Amateur Club of Knoxville
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Skywarn Training Class - February 27, 2010
Everything has been set for our 3rd Skywarn Class presented by the National Weather Service, the 470 Amateur Radio Group, Sevier County Emergency Radio Service, and the Sevier County Rescue Squad. Febuary 27th 2010, Saturday at 10:00 am at the Sevier County Rescue Squad, 1171 Dolly Parton Parkway, Sevierville TN, 37876, Contact Rick Sawaya - N4JTQ at n4jtq@live.com or by phone at 865-429-2422. We do need to know if you will be attending for our class so that we have enough classroom material from the NWS. This is a free class, takes about 3 hours, and you will earn your Spotters Certificate and number. You may also contact Bill Hicks W1RFA on the 47 repeater to sign up or myself. You do not have to be a Ham Operater to take this class, it is open to all, emergency personal and general public. Also there will be a ARES sign up for those wanting to become a part of ARES for Sevier County. Any question please feel free to contact me or Bill. You can be from any county or state to take this class.
Richard Sawaya Sr Amateur Extra Class
President Sevier County Emergency Radio Service Emergency Coordinator
Sevier County & TN ARES Co Founder Of The 470 ARG Net, District 6
Skywarn Spotter ARRL VE Manager, ARRL ARECC Instructor & Examiner
CoCoRahs Weather Station TN-SV-5
Richard Sawaya Sr Amateur Extra Class
President Sevier County Emergency Radio Service Emergency Coordinator
Sevier County & TN ARES Co Founder Of The 470 ARG Net, District 6
Skywarn Spotter ARRL VE Manager, ARRL ARECC Instructor & Examiner
CoCoRahs Weather Station TN-SV-5
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