News Archive

Kevin Zari KK4YEL Earns AMSAT's GridMaster Award!

Posted Nov 18, 2020 (Website Editor)

KARC club member and club president Kevin Zari KK4YEL, has just accomplished an amazing milestone in amateur radio satellite ops.  He has successfully logged 2-way satellite QSO's with each and every one of the continental US (lower 48 states) maidenhead grids, a total of 488 grids located within the contiguous United States of America.  We believe this makes Kevin only the 21st individual to have earned the highly coveted "GridMaster Award"; AMSAT's most prestigious award!  Congratulations to Kevin KK4YEL is accomplishing this significant achievement.  Note that several of his satellite QSO's were accomplished from the N1KSC shack on-center at KSC.

Tower & Beam PM's

Posted Aug 8, 2020 (Website Editor)

Since the tower was already down & stowed for Tropical Storm Isaias, we took advantage this weekend (Aug 8th) of the easy access to the beam antennas for doing some preventive maintenance; specifically, installing new plastic end-caps on all of the tri-bander & dual-bander element coils.  In addition, the two thrust bearings on the tower-tilt ACME screw mechanism were removed for cleaning & relubrication.  The tower was re-erected to vertical, and available for nominal use.  Thank Yous go to Mike Williamson KF4PGQ, Dennis Veselka KI4KNC, and Scott Vangen WB0QMZ for their help.

Hurricane 'Isaias' Safing (Tower Stow & Secure)

Posted Aug 1, 2020 (Website Editor)

Tropical Storm/Hurricane Isaias is currently forecasted to track along the east coast of Florida, arriving the Cape area Sunday afternoon/evening.  On Friday July 31st, club members lowered the club tower and secured per our hurricane plan procedures, along with securing with the 40-10m end-fed "fish pole" antenna.  Note that impact to club operations is negligible since KSC is still under a Covid-19 "stay-at-home" mandate for non-essential personnel.

N1KSC Shack New Furniture Installation

Posted July 25, 2020 (website Editor)

The club is fortunate to have recently obtained some high-end German manufactured laboratory grade furniture.  The existing two 6 ft desks (test bench & guest ops desk) have now been replaced with the modular lab furniture.  This new setup provides a more modern high-tech work area and additional storage shelves for the test bench and guest ops areas; in addition to providing space for admin functions such as QSL card work.

Interesting history on this lab furniture; it was first purchase/used for the German-built SPAS (Shuttle Pallet Satellite) free-flyer science payload flown on multiple Space Shuttle missions (6 flights total).  It was the first payload with on-orbit operations controlled from the KSC located SPOC (SPAS Payload Operations Center), operated by the German payload & science team.

We would like to thank Mike Haddad KE4GOQ, and Scott Vangen WB0QMZ for helping with the installation.

N1KSC Shack Elecraft K3s Station Installation

Posted July 24, 2020 (website Editor)

The club is fortunate to have recently obtained a complete Elecraft K3s HF/6m Station; consisting of the K3s 100w Transceiver, P3 PanAdaptor, KPA500 500w Linear Amplifier, KTA500 500w Antenna Tuner, and P-Pod Remote Control Pad.  This equipment was installed into Bays 1 & 2 of the KARC Ops Console, replacing the Motorola 70cm Transceiver in Bay 1 (moved to top of console), and the Yaesu FT-450D Transceiver originally located in Bay 2 (now dedicated for mobile/field operations).

This Elecraft station setup is a top of the line radio gear, featuring the K3s Tranceiver's hybrid architecture which out-performs both pure (direct sampling) SDR's and legacy Superhets.  The addition of an integrated PanAdaptor provides real-time band-wide view of the operating spectrum.  The 500w linear amplifier, along with the matching antenna tuner, provides the club with the extra punch desired for operating during less than ideal propagation conditions by increasing transmission power if required.  As with any new equipment, familiarity training is required prior to utilization by club members.

We would like to thank John McCardle KN4OBL, Scott Vangen WB0QMZ, and Kevin Zari KK4YEL for helping with the installation.

N1KSC Repeater Phone-Patch Auto CW ID Installation

Posted July 24, 2020 (website Editor)

A RACOM "Automatic Morse Code Station Identifier" unit, donated by Chris Durso AA4CD, was installed Friday July 24th into the club's UHF repeater rack located in the VAB Penthouse.  This piece of equipment will augment our phone-patch capability by providing automated "DE N1KSC" CW identification every ~8 minutes when supporting NASA/KSC PAO (Public Affairs Office) launch operations commentary on future NASA missions; the first use being the Mars 2020 launch planned for July 30th. 

We would like to thank Chris Durso AA4CD for the kind donation, along with John McCardle KN4OBL and Scott Vangen WB0QMZ for helping with the installation.

SpaceX Demo-2 Mission

N1KSC UHF Repeater Support of NASA PAO Live Audio Events 

Posted May 20, 2020 (website Editor)

The KARC N1KSC 70cm UHF repeater will be supporting NASA/KSC PAO (Public Affairs Office) launch operations commentary for the upcoming SpaceX Commercial Crew Demo-2 mission, with a planned liftoff for Wednesday May 27th at 4:33pm EDT (scrubbed); now rescheduled for Saturday May 30th at 3:22pm EDT).

Several special event transmissions are planned featuring live audio feed from NASA's public affairs office, starting today Wed May 20th with the crew arrival to KSC and running through launch day Wed May 27th.  A full schedule of the live audio events that KARC will support transmission can be found here (updated as required).  

Anyone with a 70cm FM compatible radio and within range of the repeater coverage can enjoy the retransmissions.  Repeater Rx freq = 444.925 MHz (no PL tone required to monitor).  Please note that during the support of the live audio coverage, the repeater will be not open to regular use (emergency traffic can take priority if required).  

Note: This is a similar community service that LISATS provides on their 2m repeater (146.940 MHz) located in Merritt Island, FL.

N1KSC Repeater Phone-Patch Installation

Posted May 1, 2020 (website Editor)

During this extenuating time (COVID-19 "stay-at-home" state-wide mandate), the club still has been busy with enhancing our capabilities; specifically, the addition of a phone-patch for the N1KSC UHF repeater.  The primary reason for this new repeater hardware is for supporting NASA/KSC PAO (Public Affairs Office) launch operations commentary for upcoming NASA missions; the first of which being the Space-X Commercial Crew Demo-2 mission planned for May 27th.

The GAI-Tronics MRTI-2000 phone-patch was installed Friday May 1st into the club's UHF repeater rack located in the VAB Penthouse.  The phone line interface into the Motorola Quantar repeater provides the desired audio feed path from NASA PAO.  Current plans are for enabling launch commentary on our 70cm repeater (444.925 MHz) during specific NASA launch operations as a KARC service to the spacecoast community.  We would like to thank John McCardle KN4OBL, Michael Seay WA4ECT, Scott Vangen WB0QMZ, and Kevin Zari KK4YEL for helping with the installation.

Note: This is a similar community service that LISATS provides on their 2m repeater (146.940 MHz) located in Merritt Island, FL.

Ham Radio - 'Social Distancing' for over 100 Years!

A message from the N1KSC President (Kevin Z. KK4YEL)

Posted Mar 26, 2020

During this time (COVID-19 "stay-at-home" state-wide mandate), the club officers are communicating over collaboration tools, and discussing how the state of the Center and associated lands, current suggestions, and even laws impact club activities and social gatherings. 

I’d like to remind you that the club still offers things for us to enjoy our hobby, safely from the comfort of our homes or vehicles. One of those being our repeater, N1KSC, on top of the VAB. We have the weekly Thursday evening net run on our repeater at 7:30 PM. (It’s been great hearing the individuality and talent of our net controls. Thanks to them).

The repeater is available for general use anytime by members and non-members alike. If you are experiencing any challenges or want more information, feel free to contact me. We stand by willing to help in the event that the Brevard County RACES/ARES folks need our help / use of the repeater. 

We are also investigating the option for operating the FL QSO party from our homes, as individuals, but collecting up club members individual points and rolling up the total for a club submit.  More info to come on that from the Activities Officer.  Is it safe to say everyone has some form of computer at home that if we offered a virtual build over a Teams meeting, you could all join in?

Please take care of yourselves and each other.  We will get through this.  Stay Safe.

New ARRL General Class License Manuals Available

Posted Feb 28, 2020 (Website Editor)

The club's library now has two copies of the updated ARRL General Class License Manual (9th Edition) available for membership checkout/use.  In addition, we also have an updated copy of the ARRL General Q&A (6th Edition).  These books are valid from July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2023.  Now is a great time for some of our Tech's to upgrade to the extensive HF privileges that a General Class license ticket offers.  Once you do, the entire range of operating modes and the majority of the amateur spectrum below 30 MHz becomes available to you!

And to quote an overworked & tired CPA during the crunch of tax season: "For the love of god, please get your General Class license and not become a CPA!"

KARC Systems & Operations Handbook Available

Posted Feb 12, 2020 (Website Editor)

The baseline release of the "KARC Systems & Operations Handbook" is now available. Copies are provided in the Shack (one on the Ops Console, and one in the library available for checkout).  The 200+ page handbook is an attempt to capture the technical details essential to understanding the operations and sustaining aspects of running the club's various systems and assets.  The club upon formation was in an exteremely rapid state of growth, both in membership and acquiring assets and operating capabilities.  As such, limited technical documentation was captured and cataloged real-time during these formative years while building up the various club's equipment, systems, and capabilities.  It is with this handbook that we hope to make good on providing the desired documentation going forward.

Handbook Sections:

1) Introduction

2) General Systems Overview

3) Club Shack (Shack): Operating Console

4) Club Shack (Shack): Antennas

5) Club Shack (Shack): Additional Workstations & Radio Gear

6) Club Shack (Shack): Ancillary Systems & Equipment

7) Tower & Tilt-Assembly

8) UHF Repeater

9) Logistics

10) KARC & KSC Procedures

Appendixes (Doc Change Log, Sys Officer Roles & Resp., Antenna SWR Graphs, Quantar RSS Parameters)

Note: this is not an "Operating" handbook for the individual radio systems.  The details for operating any particular radio equipment can best be found in the manufacturers provided manual which are available for all of the club's assets.

Yaesu FT-450D Repair

Posted Dec 18, 2019 (Website Editor)

The club's main HF operating transceiver, the Yaesu FT-450D, had been indicating less than full power (e.g. <20w vs 100w) on some of the bands.  After some troubleshooting; using a dummy load and comparison FT-450D rig, we concluded the most likely fault was with one of the two output driver transistors.  The suspect part was ordered Dec 9th and installed on Dec 18th; a Mitsubushi RD100HHF1 MOSFET Transistor (100W, 30 MHz, 12.5v) .  Initial testing post-repair into a dummy load confirms full power on all HF bands, and an on-air contact verified clean SSB modulation.  Note: when the suspect transistor was removed it was noticed that there appeared to be little/no thermal compound against the heatsink (see picture).  It is possible this explains the root cause of the failure - thermal stress over time.  The FT-450D second driver transistor was not replaced since it appears to be operating fine (however, we do have a second replacement transistor now on-hand if required).

KARC Group Picture

Posted Sept 27, 2019 (Website Editor)

A group photo of KARC members was taken on top of OSB II on Friday Sept 27.  Multiple shots were taken by a member of the KSC Photography Club, using the iconic VAB as the perfect backdrop.  Although attendance was limited due to work constaints and badge access to KSC, it was nice to capture out first official membership snapshot.  A future photo opportunity will be planned off-site for capturing the larger membership.  Thanks to all whom could attend!

Hurricane 'Dorian' Safing Restorations

Posted Sept 10, 2019 (Website Editor)

Dorian became a Category 5 hurricane, and did significant damage to the Bahamas.  Fortunately Dorian kept well off the east coast of Florida as a Cat 2, and did not seriously impact the Cape.  No damage to KARC equipment identified.  On Tue Sept 10, club members reinstalled the previously stowed antennas, and also raised the tower back into the operating position. 

Hurricane 'Dorian' Safing Preparations

Posted Aug 29, 2019 (Website Editor)

In readiness of hurricane Dorian (projected Cat 4/5), the club performed necessary safing operations on our various antennas at EML.  All rooftop mounted antennas (except the Discone) were removed and secured within the EML building.  The tower was lowered, and safely stowed & secured.  Work was also performed on the addition of an extra securing bracket tie-down support for the top mast.  The tri-bander & dual-bander beam elements were removed and also stowed inside the EML building to provide additional protection from potential high wind damage.  Thanks to all who helped with their time to get this critical task accomplished for the club.

Enhanced KARC Logistics Area

Posted May 6, 2019 (Website Editor)

The club's logistics area was significantly enhanced this weekend (May 4/5) with the addition of four large metal shelving assemblies made available for club use.  The additional room for the shelves was made by relocating several non-KARC large boxes that had been previously stored along the east wall to another area of the building.  Thanks go to Andy Lopatin KB3KX, Michael Seay WA4ECT, and Scott Vangen WB0QMZ for their time and help to get this task accomplished for the club.

NASA On-The-Air Article in Spaceport Magazine

Posted April 23, 2019 (Website Editor)

An article covering NASA On-The-Air was published in the latest issue of Spaceport Magazine (April 2019 Vol. 6 No. 3).  KARC President Kevin Zari KK4YEL was featured in an interview covering the story, summarizing the year-long special event activities celebrating NASA's 60th Anniversary.

Radio clubs from 10 NASA centers and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, all supported the yearlong event. Ham radio operators tuned in from all 50 U.S. states and 56 countries across six continents to chat with NASA personnel.  “There were times in our log where we had 20 contacts a minute – it was that quick. And there were other more relaxed times, where we were able to just sit and talk,” said Zari.

ELAD TM2 Controller Installed

Posted Apr 8, 2019 (Website Editor)

An ELAD TM2 manual controller, a recent acquisition by the Club, was paired up with the previously installed ELAD FDM-S2 SDR receiver.  The TM2 allows the use of the SDR software without the need to watch the screen of the PC, or when the PC screen is crowded with other various programs such as our logging program during contest operations.  A main tuning knob, two additional control knobs, plus 6 programmable buttons allow for easy user interface for those who prefer manual control.  A multi-color LCD display compliments the user interface.

Cape Canaveral Lighthouse - N1KSC Donation Brick Plaque

Posted Apr 2, 2019 (Website Editor)

We received a nice framed picture and thank you letter from the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse Foundation.  Last fall the club voted to make a donation to the CC Lighthouse Foundation in the form of a personalized engraved brick "KSC Amateur Radio Club N1KSC", located on the CC Lighthouse Keepers Walkway on the north side of the lighthouse close to the base of the lighthouse.  The CC Lighthouse Foundation has kindly supported KARC radio operations on-site during the International Lighthouses & Lightships Weekend event (3rd weekend of August annually).

HEIL Parametric Receive Audio System

Posted Mar 28, 2019 (Website Editor)

A recently donated HEIL Parametric Receive Audio System (PRAS) is a state-of-the-art audio system that enhances the internal audio systems of amateur radio receivers.  The PRAS allows radio operators to modify, shape, and improve the audio output of receivers using three equalization controls.  The PRAS consists of an active parametric EQ w/ two headphone outputs and a HEIL 24-watt powered 2-way speaker.  The PRAS has been installed in the ops console for use with the Yaesu FT-450 HF transceiver.  Give it try next time you operate!

ELAD FDM-S2 SDR Receiver Installed

Posted Mar 27, 2019 (Website Editor)

The recently donated ELAD FDM-S2 SDR Receiver (see Feb 14th 'News' posting) has been installed in the Shack Ops Console.  Two LMR-195 coax cables w/ RCA-to-N connectors were fabricated (one each for the HF & VHF inputs to the receiver.  The ELAD FDM-SW2 software is loaded on "iMac Alpha", and provides complete control/display of the little black box.  The addition of this state-of-the-art software defined radio adds a wide range of new capabilities to the club shack for monitoring the HF & VHF bands.

Motorola HT Charging Stations Installed

Posted Mar 27, 2019 (Website Editor)

Two Motorola 6-bay HT charging stations were installed on the south-east wall of the Shack (by the Guest Ops Desk).  These HT/battery chargers are now the permanent home for the dozen Motorola XTS-5000 HT's that we acquired for club use.  A reminder that the HT's may be used by any club member, but must be signed out for use on-center and a property pass obtained if taken off-center (coordinated w/ the club property manager).

New Coax Cable Hanger Panel

Posted Mar 23, 2019 (Website Editor)

A new radio gear coax cable hanger panel has been fabricated/installed in the shack providing easier access and organization of the various cables running to the antenna patch panel area.  The easy clip & release hooks allow quick access to the radio coax cable(s) you wish to use, initially organized left to right to match the Ops Console layout of radio equipment.  The hanger panel has 17 clips available; hard to believe we have 14 coax cables hung already running from all of our various radio gear in the shack.

N1KSC UHF Repeater Testing & Upgrades

Posted Mar 22, 2019 (Website Editor)

Upgrades to the club repeater on top of the VAB were performed 3/21 & 3/22, along with de-sense testing of the system performance.  Additions to the repeater include a larger rack enclosure hosting an upgraded UPS with increased battery capability (and future expansion growth for additional backup capacity).  Additionally, an EMR pre-selector/pre-amplifier has been installed to provide additional receiver selectivity and sensitivity.  During de-sense testing of the repeater equipment, a suspect short length of Heliax flex coax was replaced with a length of LMR-400, which we believe will improve system performance.  Thank you to John McCardle KN4OBL, Chris Durso AA4CD, Dave Harrison KE8GIJ, Michael Seay WA4ECT, and Scott Vangen WB0QMZ for their time & skills to complete this work on behalf of the club.  

Please provide feedback to the club on the repeater's performance in the weeks ahead if you notice a change.  We are very interested in the system behavior from your perspective (e.g. increased/decreased quieting, stronger/weaker gain, etc.).

Motorola XTL-5000 UHF Transceiver On-Line

Posted Mar 18, 2019 (Website Editor)

The Motorola XTL-5000 UHF Transceiver is now operational in Bay #1 of the Ops Console.  The base unit is programmed with preset memory channels for easy selection of the N1KSC repeater for both analog (FM) & digital (P25) modes, along with a number of simplex frequencies for local communications.  Simply patch up the coax cable labelled "Motorola XTL-5000 UHF" to the desired antenna (typically the Diamond X-300AN), power-up the rig, and you're good to go!

Replacement EML UPS Installed - HF EMI Noise Now Gone!

Update Mar 7, 2019 (Website Editor)

Fantastic news - the new Eaton UPS has been installed/activated, providing contingency switch-over power for the EML spectrum monitoring control room.  The nasty EMI noise from the old UPS unit, that plagued our radio HF operations since we first activated the club shack, is now gone!

Replacement EML UPS Has Arrived!

Posted Feb 22, 2019 (Website Editor)

A new high-capacity Eaton UPS has arrived at the EML building, which will replace the existing old UPS system, used for the EML spectrum monitoring control room during power transfers to generator.  The current UPS has been the known source of our severe HF EMI QRM noise, particularly on the 20m band.  When the installation is complete our operating environment should be much quieter in the HF bands, and the need to schedule a shutdown of the UPS during our operating events will be a thing of the past.

70cm Pre-Amp Replaced on Satellite Antenna Array

Posted Feb 19, 2019 (Website Editor)

Our new Systems Officer (John McCardle KN4OBL), along with the help of Dennis V. KI4KNC & Scott V. WB0QMZ, replaced the Icom AG-35 70cm pre-amp on the satellite antenna array.  The previous 70cm pre-amp was inadvertently damaged during use when troubleshooting SurfSat late last year.  The new pre-amp was checked out, and the club satellite station is now back fully operational.

On a related satellite note, a 2018 edition of Getting Started with Amateur Satellites has been kindly donated by AMSAT & Dennis V.  This definitive reference is written for the new satellite operator by Gould Smith (WA4SXM), but includes discussions for the experienced operator who wishes to review the features of amateur satellite communications.  Now's a great time to come by the shack and learn how to work the birds!

"HI" In-The-Sky!

Posted Feb 19, 2019 (Website Editor)

During a recent visit (Feb 14th) by Dr. Robert Suggs KB5EZ (NASA/MSFC) to the KARC shack, we were entertained overhead by a pair of USAF Thunderbirds practicing aerobatic maneuvers over KSC air space.  During a particular overhead pass we took notice that one of the pilots might have been trying to say "HI" to us on the ground (flying east to west, so read the pilot induced smoke contrail right to left).  dit-dit-dit-dit  dit-dit (Hmm...)

Donation of ELAD FDM-S2 SDR Receiver

Posted Feb 14, 2019 (Website Editor)

Orlando Hamcation was this past weekend (Feb 8-10), with thousands in attendance, including several club members.  One of the interesting developments to happen with amateur radio in recent years has been the infusion of Software Design Radio (SDR) technology into our hobby.  One of the companies at Hamcation displaying amateur radio SDR integrated hardware/software systems was ELAD Electronics (Italy).

ELAD Electronics CEO Franco Milan generously donated a model FDM-S2 SDR Receiver to KARC.  The FDM-S2 is a 16-bit Direct Sampling Receiver covering 9 kHz - 52 MHz HF (plus FM Band and 135 - 160 MHz VHF range in undersampling mode).  This SDR will provide the club shack with a panadaptor view of the HF/VHF spectrum, including various display & signal analysis options with the included software.

First 6m Meteor Scatter QSO!

Posted Dec 13, 2018 (Systems Officer)

With the recent installation of the new 6m Yagi Beam antenna, we now have access to the "Magic Band", the lowest portion of the VHF spectrum allocated for amateur radio use.  A very unique mode of operating in this band is that ability to do 6m Meteor Scatter QSO's, the first of which was accomplished Thursday morning (with the help the Leonids meteor shower).  The contact was with W4IMD (EM84) in north Georgia, a distance of ~430 miles.  The QSO was established with WSJT-X (Ver 2.0), that allows for weak signal digital QSO's.  It's pretty incredible to think that this contact was enabled by little chunks of space rocks entering our atmosphere, and leaving an ionized charged trail behind that reflects our RF signals well beyond typical VHF line-of-sight restrictions between two stations.  We hope this will be the first of many more meteor scatter QSO's to follow!

ARISS SSTV Joins with NASA On The Air for a Special Event

Posted Oct 19, 2018 (Systems Officer)

ARISS News Release   No. 18-12 

Dave Jordan, AA4KN aa4kn@amsat.org

ARISS SSTV Joins with NASA On The Air for a Special Event
 

Oct 19, 2018: Amateur Radio OnThe International Space Station (ARISS) is planning a very special Slow Scan TV event currently scheduled to start October 27 about 10 am UTC. Helping to support the event will be NASA’s Space, Communication and Navigation (SCaN) Dept.  The Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program manages NASA’s three most important communications networks. The Space Network (SN), Near Earth Network (NEN), and the Deep Space Network (DSN. 

Just as in past ARISS SSTV commemorations, 12 images will be downlinked, but this time with 6 featuring the SCaN educational activities while the other 6 images will commemorate  major NASA anniversaries, ie when NASA was established, astronauts first landing on the moon, etc. In addition to the fun of receiving these images, participants can qualify for a special endorsement for the NASA On The Air (NOTA) celebration event. To learn more about NOTA, visit https://nasaontheair.wordpress.com 

Once received, Images can be posted and viewed at spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_SSTV/index.php. The transmissions are expected to be broadcast at the usual frequency of 145.800 MHz using the PD-120 SSTV mode. Please note that the event is dependent on other activities, schedules and crew responsibilities on the ISS and are subject to change at any time.  More information will follow soon, so please continue to check for news and the most current information on the AMSAT.org and ARISS.org websites, the AMSAT-BB@amsat.org, the ARISS facebook at Amateur Radio On The International Space Station (ARISS) and ARISS twitter @ARISS_status. 

SurfSat Alternate Ground Station Support

Posted 10/3/2018 (Systems Officer)

KARC assisted in attempting to contact "SurfSat"; a recently launched cubesat developed at the University of Central Florida (UCF), with co-investigators from KSC's Launch Services Program (LSP).  The satellite was launched Sept 15, 2018 aboard a Delta II rocket out of Vandenberg into a polar orbit.  The satellite carries an experiment that will gather information about how different surfaces of a spacecraft react to electrons and ions encountered in space.  Unfortunately, no contact with the 2U CubeSat has been successful to-date from the UCF ground station, so we offered to attempt uplinking the proper command sequence while listenening for a downlink response using our new directional circular polarized Yagi satellite antennas.  No joy on our initial try with the satellite pass, but follow-up troubleshooting plans are in-work.

Satellite Antenna Upgrades Complete!

Posted 9/29/2018 (Systems Officer)

KARC successfully upgraded from the existing iso-loop satellite omni-directional antennas setup to a new directional (AZ/EL) circular polarized 70cm & 2m Yagi antennas setup purchased with club funds and generous donations from members.  The new antenna setup provides improved satellite communications reliability with increased signal gain and reduced signal fading. The upgraded satellite antenna system is fully operational and ready for club member use - go work those "Birds"!

Shack Timing System Relocation

Posted 8/25/2018 (Systems Officer)

The shack's timing system has been relocated to a new position in the left ops console (middle-lower rack mount cabinet).  This allowed the removal of the blue half-rack cabinet that was adjacent to the guest ops desk, making more room for the left-most operator position and easier access to the antenna patch panel.  The timing equipment is easily accessible behind the removable close-out door, with the three clock display selector switches located at the top position.  Power is on the same UPS as the logging iMac.

EML Ham Shack 'QSL Wall' Reaches Saturation!

Posted 8/23/2018 (Systems Officer)

Wow - the QSL cards keep coming in, and we now have over 300 cards on display on the shack east wall.  With the club having over 3,600 contacts to-date, it appears that ~8% of our radio contacts enjoy doing old school QSL card exchanges, in which we're all to happy to oblige.  It's a delight to have so many creative and unique cards from around the country & world on display in the shack, and we're now looking into where we can expand our display area (possibly into the adjacent hallway).  Thank you to all who take the time to work the cards & logging as they come in, it's a great outreach activity that we all can be proud of.

New EML Shack DC Power Supplies Installed

Posted 8/15/2018 (Systems Officer)

Two Astron linear 13.8 VDC power supplies have been installed into the EML Shack Ops Console, replacing the old single surplus Sorenson 12 VDC supply.  Each console half (left & right) now has a dedicated DC supply, controlled by the ISO-TRIPP AC power panel located in the middle of each console half.  In addition, we now have real-time monitoring of voltage, current, and power via a Powerwerx Digital Watt Meter (pictured) for both power supplies, also conveniently located on the center of each console half.  Thank you to Michael Seay, Robert Schwader, and Dave Harrison for their installation help.

New Technician License Manuals Now Available

Posted 7/23/2018 (Systems Officer)

Three (3) copies of the ARRL "Ham Radio License Manual - Level 1 (Technician)" are now available in the KARC Shack Library.  The new license manuals are valid July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2022 (and replace the previous dated copies).  The new & updated Gordon West "Technician Class" Preperation Manual has also arrived and available for check-out.  The license manuals, in addition to any other club library books, are available for loan from the club shack (simply use the sign-out sheet located next to the library books).

Say Hello To Our Newest Member!

Updated 6/10/2018 (Systems Officer)

The egg is gone, so hopefully the bird hatched and flew the coop.  The nesting material was cleaned up frrom the panel area.  No damage was done to the coax cables by the birds.

Posted 5/26/2018 (Systems Officer)

While doing an outdoor inspection of the coax cable interface panel I noticed a significant amount of sticks piled up in the bottom corner of the window housing.  Upon closer examination it appears that we are now the host of a bird nest with one egg!  If someone knows how to identify bird eggs please let us know what kind of bird will be hatching soon.  Please be very careful as to not disturb the nest & egg, nature will play itself out and we can remove the nest material once the bird has flew the coop!

KARC Tower Hold-Down Post Completed - Hurricane Season Ready

Posted 5/26/2018 (Systems Officer)

Work has been completed on the installation of the hold-down post for the new tiltable tower. This hold-down post provides a 8 ft height cradled resting platform for when working on the tower & antennas in the stowed horizontal position. In addition, this hold-down post provides a secure platform for safing the tower during hurricanes when four securing straps are installed on 4 ft deep earth anchor screws providing additional support (pictured). We would like to thank Jim D., Jim H., Michael S., Scott V., and Kevin Z. for getting this important work complete prior to the start of the 2018 hurricane season.

KARC Beam Team Completed - Tower & HF Yagi Beams Operational!

Posted 5/7/2018 (Systems Officer)

The Beam-Team has completed all installation work required for the new 52 foot self-standing tiltable tower plus two HF Yagi Beam antennas, and is now fully operational.  A full report of the team activities was presented at the May club meeting on 5/10/18 (details can be found in the meeting minutes).  We would like to thanks the several volunteers who donated their time, money, and support for the largest club project to-date.  The new tower & beams provide an incredible new operational capabilty to the station, as was experienced during the recent FL QSO Party.  

KARC Tower & Beam Timeline