The Bolt The Official Publication of the Ford Amateur Radio League
FARL BOLT – October 2019 - Page 1 of 11 [ https://web.vee.ford.com/FERA | www.K8UTT.org ]
President’s Notes for October 2019 Tour de Cure Post Event: The weather for the event this year was awesome
for the riders, with temperatures in the 60’s and no rain. We amateurs proved
ourselves again as responsive, agile, and adaptable to the situation. We found
that our original repeater did not work well on Belle Isle, but our backup did a
nice job overall. We managed to put our equipment and antennas on the SAG
wagons that were not our own. We worked with an organization who had not
had ham support before. We had a noisy base station environment with a
temporary power loss to boot. With all of these challenges, we helped out rest
stops, kept track of riders, drove a few of them back to home base, and helped
clean up the directional signs. Our served agency, the American Diabetes
Association, was very impressed and happy with our performance, and they
learned a lot about how to deploy us for best use. Roger Reini, KD8CSE, will
provide the club with a more complete presentation on the event, but he did get
word that we would be requested to help again next year! For my part, I learned
about taking my Yaesu DRM-400 on the road portable in some else’s vehicle and
preparing everything to work in a cigar lighter with a mag mount antenna. For
next year, I want a 12V battery backup for higher power and functionality when
the car is turned off, and a ½ wave antenna instead of the ¼ wave I was using.
There are actually a few more ideas and thoughts, which I may turn into a mini
presentation myself sometime soon.
Items for Sale: We have a few estate sales going on. Ralph Irish has a page
on some items he is selling on behalf of an old friend of his who
passed away. Proceeds go to the Dayton Youth Forum fund as
MFJ gift cards, so he and the L'Anse Creuse club have been
supporting the next generation of hams. See the list if anything
interests you. John Mathy, K8AZT, also has some items for sale
from the estate of Bruno Walzcak, WA8DHP. I have posted the information on
the For Sale page, http://www.k8utt.org/for_sale.htm, if you are interested in
putting some of this equipment to good use for yourself or for others.
The Bolt The Official Publication of the Ford Amateur Radio League
FARL BOLT – October 2019 - Page 2 of 11 [ https://web.vee.ford.com/FERA | www.K8UTT.org ]
Boy Scout Jamboree: FARL Vice President Chris Jenks, K8CKJ, is setting up
the FARL HF equipment as part of the Jamboree on the Air at the Wolcott Mill
Metropark Farm Center in Ray, Michigan on Saturday, October 19th. The JOTA
event runs from October 18th -20th. See elsewhere for more information,
including a training video if you wish to participate with him during the event.
October Presentation: The October presentation will be from Tye Winkel,
KC8YEJ. He will talk about using the program Chirp
(https://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chirp/wiki/Home) to program radios. I use
this program with my Btech radio, and it works very well for me.
Sunday Night Net: Set your smart device to remind you to join us on the Sunday
night net! We do get some new hams on the net, and we can develop their
experience as amateurs both technically and through community by participating
in the net. As always, it is also practice with our equipment, which is important
when we use it at an event! The net is at 8pm!
73,
David Treharne
N8HKU
FARL Club President
The Long Island CW Club - Kimball Williams, N8FNC The Long Island CW Club is
dedicated to helping hams learn
CW. https://longislandcwclub.org
The Bolt The Official Publication of the Ford Amateur Radio League
FARL BOLT – October 2019 - Page 3 of 11 [ https://web.vee.ford.com/FERA | www.K8UTT.org ]
- Chris Jenks, K8CKJ
Dates and time:
October 18-20 from between 6 pm and 7 pm on Friday through 9 -10 on Sunday.
Further information is at:
https://www.scouting.org/jota/
http://www.arrl.org/jamboree-on-the-air-jota
Location information:
https://www.metroparks.com/parks/wolcott-mill-metropark/
Wolcott Mill Metropark Farm Center
65775, Wolcott Road
Ray, MI – 48096
(586)752-5932
If you want to participate, you need to go through the BSA Youth Training Program. It's roughly
a 30-minute video training course online. The training can be found
through http://my.scouting.org. You'll need to create an account. Information is
at https://www.scouting.org/training/youth-protection/
They plan to have 2 sites set up doing HF/VHF/UHF. There will be a IC-706 with a buddy pole.
The plan is to also have a Raspberry Pi running HamVoip for connectivity to the JOTA Allstar,
and a Jumbospot for DMR to the JOTA Talkgroup.
The Bolt The Official Publication of the Ford Amateur Radio League
FARL BOLT – October 2019 - Page 4 of 11 [ https://web.vee.ford.com/FERA | www.K8UTT.org ]
Ford Amateur Radio League (AKA: The Tin Lizzy Club)
Club Meeting Minutes – September 12, 2019
Ford Amateur Radio League meeting minutes: September 12, 2019
Prepared by Roger Reini, KD8CSE, Secretary
Meeting called to order at 6:01 PM by president Dave Treharne, N8HKU
• Minutes from June meeting reviewed; motion to approve made by Chris, K8CKJ and
seconded by Roger, KD8CSE; minutes approved (they were subsequently corrected to
fix typos in the attendee list)
• Treasurer’s report from Mike Fluegemann, KE8AQW: no expenditures since June.
Motion to approve report made by Tye, KC8YEJ, and seconded by Carl, KB4CWG;
report approved. Reminder that dues were due and payable in April.
• Board of Directors: no meeting in this period
• Committee Reports:
o Repeater: functioning, but there is a variable echo in analog mode on the 2m
repeater; suspect that receiver is picking up some of transmitter output; duplexer
may need adjustment; no change in status of building. Tom, W8TJB, wondered if
the repeater converted everything to digital internally, even when output was
analog; Dave thought not, as no digital artifacts were obvious in analog output.
Bill, N8OZV, asked if an updated version of the repeater controller was available;
Dave said yes, there was.
o Sunday night net: still going.
o Education/Training: There is a 1-day Technician class and testing session
Sept. 28 in Ann Arbor. Hazel Park club is starting 3 licensing classes this month;
details to be sent to club mailing list. Tye, KC8YEJ, would like a testing session
at Ford in November.
o Newsletter/Website: BOLT distributed before meeting; no major website
updates. Kimball, N8FNC, asked to be added to the club mailing list; Roger,
KD8CSE, said he would do so
o Historian: Storage containers for club archives have started cracking, though
they’re not that old and are stored in shadow
o Equipment Inventory: No changes, though updates are pending
The Bolt The Official Publication of the Ford Amateur Radio League
FARL BOLT – October 2019 - Page 5 of 11 [ https://web.vee.ford.com/FERA | www.K8UTT.org ]
o FERA: Roger, KD8CSE, attended General Council meeting Sept. 10 and
reported on the club’s support of the Tour de Cure; Entertainment books are
available for sale (see Bill, N8OZV); auto show tickets will still be sold, but in May
and June to reflect new event schedule
• Unfinished/Current Business:
o Field Day expenditures: Dave, N8HKU, submitted a receipt for breakfast
expenditures, amount $93.57; motion to approve made by Roger, KD8CSE,
seconded by Bill, N8OZV; expenditure approved. No requests for reimbursement
for gas for generators were submitted by anyone; they all considered them
donations to the club/event.
• New Business:
o List of recently licensed hams: Bill, N8OZV, is still trying to compile the list of
new hams minted in the last 3 years from testing conducted by the club in order
to increase involvement
o Maker Faire: Bill, N8OZV, reported on the club support of Maker Faire. The
group was on the front lawn this year as opposed to being in a courtyard, which
helped with visibility and antenna setup, along with overall setup and teardown
o Tour de Cure: 5 club members provided radio support at the Tour de Cure event
Sept. 8 (3 in SAG vehicles, 2 at net control), while hams from other groups
supported 4 rest areas and 1 SAG vehicle; 2 SAG vehicles had no radio support
due to insufficient operators. Bill, N8OZV, reported that the SAG driver he rode
with said that having the SAG wagons being able to communicate and coordinate
with each other made a big difference in route cleanup at the end of the event,
saving hours at the end of the event. This could have been improved on had the
other 2 SAG wagons had radio support (i.e., priority for radio support should
have gone to SAG wagons instead of rest stops). Roger, KD8CSE, is compiling a
list of things that went well and things that could be improved; he will send a
event-focused version of that list to the organizers.
o JOTA: Chris, K8CKJ, asked to borrow the club FT-991 radio to support a local
Boy Scout troop during Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) in October; there was no
objection. He may ask for additional help for the event; this would go to the club
mailing list.
o Preparations for supporting an event: Chris, K8CKJ, asked if there was a list
of recommended equipment and gear for supporting a public service event like
the Tour de Cure; Dave, N8HKU, said he would start such a list.
The Bolt The Official Publication of the Ford Amateur Radio League
FARL BOLT – October 2019 - Page 6 of 11 [ https://web.vee.ford.com/FERA | www.K8UTT.org ]
o Long Island CW Club: Kimball, N8FNC, said fall classes in Morse code and CW
operation would be starting soon.
• Presentation: Roger, Dave, N8HKU, gave a presentation on the Field Day 2019
results. Presentation was scheduled to be on the club website by the weekend after the
meeting.
• Adjourned at 7:34 PM
Attendance:
Roger Reini, KD8CSE
Carl Waldrop, KB4CWG
Tom Bray, W8TJB
M ac Lunn, KD8TPO
Kimball Williams, N8FNC
Tye Winkel, KC8YEJ
Bill Boyke, N8OZV
Rusty Eizen, N8RGI
Chris Jenks, K8CKJ
Michael Fluegemann, KE8AQW
WWV 100TH Anniversary – Special Event Station - Roger Reini, KD8CSE On October 1, 2019, radio station WWV will celebrate 100 years of
operation. In commemoration of this, the Northern Colorado ARC and
WWV ARC are teaming up to operate a special event station,
WW0WWV, near the WWV transmitter site in Fort Collins, CO.
Operators from across the country will be helping to run the station, including my uncle Bill, K9WA, and
myself.
The station will be in operation from 0000 UTC September 28 through 2359 UTC October 2 on 160, 80,
40, 30, 20, 17 and 15 meters using CW SSB, and digital modes. As of the time I’m writing this, I am
scheduled to operate on September 30 at 1400 UTC on 20m SSB (schedules are subject to change).
There was to be a public open house at the WWV transmitter site on the actual anniversary, October 1,
but this was cancelled by NIST. However, the special event operators will be able to tour the station.
For the latest news on the special event, check the official website at http://wwv100.com/index.php.
The Bolt The Official Publication of the Ford Amateur Radio League
FARL BOLT – October 2019 - Page 7 of 11 [ https://web.vee.ford.com/FERA | www.K8UTT.org ]
Tour De Cure Ride Support - Roger Reini, KD8CSE Several Tin Lizzy club members provided radio support for the
Tour de Cure run/walk/ride on September 8. Roger Reini,
KD8CSE, served as net control operator on Belle Isle, assisted by
Rusty Eizen, N8RGI. Riding with SAG wagon drivers were Bill
Boyke, N8OZV, Chris Jenks, K8CKHJ, and Dave Treharne,
N8HKU. Also volunteering were hams from other area clubs.
The team had to overcome adversities such a lack of sufficient
operators (not every SAG wagon had a radio operator),
unexpected power cutouts in SAG wagons and net control, and having to move to the backup
repeater, but the ride was fully supported.
Here are some of the riders beginning the 30-mile ride on Belle Isle.
The Bolt The Official Publication of the Ford Amateur Radio League
FARL BOLT – October 2019 - Page 8 of 11 [ https://web.vee.ford.com/FERA | www.K8UTT.org ]
Roger, KD8CSE, used this Buddipole configured as a 2-meter vertical.
Setup at net control: Yaesu FTM-400DR with external speaker, power supply and battery pack.
The Bolt The Official Publication of the Ford Amateur Radio League
FARL BOLT – October 2019 - Page 9 of 11 [ https://web.vee.ford.com/FERA | www.K8UTT.org ]
The Bolt The Official Publication of the Ford Amateur Radio League
FARL BOLT – October 2019 - Page 10 of 11 [ https://web.vee.ford.com/FERA | www.K8UTT.org ]
Club Repeater Information
The Ford Amateur Radio League operates 3 club repeaters under the club K8UTT license. All the
repeaters are located in the Dearborn, MI area near the Southfield Freeway. All repeaters are open for members
and guests to operate.
Repeater Output Freq Input Freq Tone
2 M Repeater 145.270 -600 KHz 100 Hz PL
1 1/4 M Repeater 224.520 -1.6 MHz 100 Hz PL
Club Net: 8pm on Sunday, 2 and 1-1/4 Meter Repeaters!
Classes and Exams
The following amateur radio clubs conduct license exams throughout the year. Many clubs allow walk-
ins but pre-registration will insure an exam is available for you when you attend.
Club Name Contact Person Phone Email
Ford Amateur Radio League TBD TBD TBD
South Lyon ARC Christian Anderson 248-437-3088 [email protected]
Motor City ARC Don Novak 734-281-7030 [email protected]
Hazel Park ARC Jerry Begel 248-543-2284 [email protected]
USECA ARC Joseph Kennedy 586-977-7222 [email protected]
ARROW Assn Roger Place 734-663-4625 [email protected]
Some of the above clubs also conduct license classes. Please contact them for additional information.
The Bolt The Official Publication of the Ford Amateur Radio League
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2018-2019 Club Officers
Please contact any of the officers for information regarding the Ford Amateur Radio League, or go to the club website at www.k8utt.org for current events and activities. President Dave Treharne N8HKU 734-476-1666
Vice President Chris Jenks K8CKJ Treasurer Michael Fluegemann KE8AQW 313-549-1950
Secretary Roger Reini KD8CSE 734-728-1509
Repeater Chair Murray Scott KE8UM 248-743-1704
K8UTT Trustee Dave Treharne N8HKU 734-476-1666
Activity Chair Bill Boyke N80ZV 313-805-8877
Bolt Editor Rajiv Paul KD8LHF 313-244-2515
Historian Tye Winkel KC8YEJ 313-805-8294
Club Meetings The Ford Amateur Radio Club meets on the second Thursday of each month, except for Christmas and the summer months July and August. The meetings are held at 6:00 PM at the Lobby Conference
Room of Ford Building #5. It’s at the intersection of Rotunda and Pelham, where there is a traffic light. Take the loop drive all the way around past buildings 3 and 4 until you reach the parking lot in front of Building 5. Go to the entrance at the loop drive and come in.
Next Club Meeting: October 10, 2019 at 6:00PM Topic: Chirp Radio Programming Software By Tye Winkel, KC8YEJ
The Ford Amateur Radio League PO Box 2711 Dearborn, MI 48123