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[http://www.arrl.org/club-news]


July 16, 2024
Editor: Mike Walters, W8ZY [ mailto:mwalters@arrl.org ]

ARRL Home Page
https://www.arrl.org/

ARRL Club News Archive
http://www.arrl.org/club-news

iCom America Your ATNO secret weapon [https://www.icomamerica.com/lineup/amateur/]


In this Issue:
Club Grant Deadline Approaches
W4MLB Repeater is Briefly QRT
A Successful Field Day in California
Submitting Info for this Newsletter
How to Plan and Apply for an ARRL Hamfest or Convention
Important Links

Club Grant Deadline Approaches

ARRL Foundation
[https://www.arrl.org/the-arrl-foundation]


The ARRL Foundation Club Grant Program is in full swing, and the deadline for applications is approaching. Clubs have until 4 PM Eastern time on July 26 to submit their applications. The Club Grant Program allows clubs to apply for up to $25,000 to use
in transformational projects that involve amateur radio in their community. Clubs across the country have been using this program to fund educational programs, outreach, and recruiting programs. A new round of funding is available to support more club
projects. Details and directions can be found on the ARRL website, at www.arrl.org/club-grant-program [ http://www.arrl.org/club-grant-program ] . Applications are open to all amateur radio clubs; ARRL affiliation is not required. July 26 is approaching,
and now is the time to apply.

W4MLB Repeater is Briefly QRT

W4MLB Repeater is Briefly QRT
[https://pcars.org/]


On May 14, 2024, the Platinum Coast Amateur Radio Society's (PCARS) 146.850 repeater in Florida, known locally as the Eight Five Machine, was removed from its location at the L3Harris 400-foot tower. The Eight Five Machine had been hosted by defense
contractor L3Harris (formerly Harris Corporation) for many decades. The antenna, near the top of the tower, gave the repeater a tremendously large footprint over the Space Coast and into Volusia, Seminole, Orange, Osceola, and Indian River counties.

Several months ago, a contractor hired by L3Harris had inadvertently removed the repeater's coax from the tower, putting the system offline. Afterward, there were negotiations to get the line reinstalled. However, due to financial reasons, L3Harris
decided not to go forward with the cable replacement and to abandon the tower. The structure will no longer be used to support any type of radio antenna equipment and will be dismantled.

A few days after removing it from the L3Harris tower, the repeater was installed at the PCARS club station in north Melbourne, about 9 1/2 miles north of its previous location. With a current antenna height of about 65 feet, its footprint is
significantly smaller than before. Currently, PCARS is searching for another location with a suitable tower height.

By Dan Fisher, AI4GK. Walter Aucoin, K5LD, contributed to this story.

Geochron Club Speaker
[https://www.geochron.com/hamclub/]


A Successful Field Day in California

ARRL Field Day 2024 Logo
[http://www.arrl.org/field-day]


The 2024 ARRL Field Day was a successful event for the Sierra Amateur Radio Club (SARC), despite a temperature of 111┬░ F. We had 20 members stop by or spend the day at our event location, the Ridgecrest City Center in California. Many came to chat, but
only five or six wanted to operate, despite our best efforts offering to let them use any of our multiple radios. We had seven visitors, including city council member Solomon Rajaratnam, as well as SARC member and ARRL Section Manager Steve Hendriks,
KK6JTB.

The City of Ridgecrest allowed us to block off an area in front of city hall so we could set up our antenna trailer and an FT8 station in an RV for cooler operating conditions, as well as have daytime access to the Kerr McGee Center for cooling down and
having bathroom access.

Contacts, especially phone, were limited. We (mostly Dennis Kidder, W6DQ) made 172 digital (FT8) contacts using the antenna trailer tower, and 22 phone contacts were made, mostly with a BuddiStick antenna, but a few were made using the antenna trailer
tower.

Jeff Potter, N6LIP, and Julie Potter, W6FIA, kept us fed all day on Saturday and Sunday morning. Alex Rhinehart, KM6DLI, and Dave Aubin, W6TLA, helped to raise the tower, and Eric Bohanan's, KN6RFX, and Phillip Cash's, KG6JEL, help with taking the tower
down was critical in making this an easy task this year. Looking forward to finding a team and location for next year.

By Cap Casperson, WX1WIZ

Also, thanks to the efforts of President Ric Soard, AJ6UE, the City of Ridgecrest designated the week of ARRL Field Day as Amateur Radio Week, with a proclamation at the council meeting on June 19 Γ-" well done, Ric and SARC!

Submitting Info for this Newsletter

ARRL Club News is for radio clubs to show how they are working in the community and the hobby to advance amateur radio. If your club completes a project, supports an event, does an EmComm activation, or activates a park, we want to hear about it. You can
submit your newsletter article to us at clubs@arrl.org [ mailto:clubs@arrl.org ] . We like to get them as text or Word files instead of PDFs. If you have pictures, please submit them with caption information, as well as the name and call sign of the
photographer. We want to highlight the good work being done by the clubs and show others in the community. Think of this as a chance to show off your club and your programs.

How to Plan and Apply for an ARRL Hamfest or Convention

If your amateur radio club is planning to host a convention, hamfest, tailgate, or swapfest, please consider applying for it to be an ARRL-sanctioned event. To learn what it means to be an ARRL-sanctioned event, and to get some ideas on how to prepare
for and conduct a hamfest or convention, visit www.arrl.org/arrl-sanctioned-events [ http://www.arrl.org/arrl-sanctioned-events ] .

To have your event sanctioned, complete the online application at www.arrl.org/hamfest-convention-application [ http://www.arrl.org/hamfest-convention-application ] .

The ARRL Hamfests and Conventions Calendar can be found online at www.arrl.org/hamfests [ http://www.arrl.org/hamfests ] . In addition, the Convention and Hamfest Calendar that runs in QST each month also presents information about upcoming events.

Important Links

ARRL Home: www.arrl.org [ http://www.arrl.org/ ]

Find an ARRL Affiliated Club: www.arrl.org/clubs [ http://www.arrl.org/clubs ]

Find your ARRL Section: www.arrl.org/sections [ http://www.arrl.org/sections ]

Find a license class in your area: www.arrl.org/class [ http://www.arrl.org/class ]

Find a license exam in your area: www.arrl.org/exam [ http://www.arrl.org/exam ]

Find a hamfest or convention: www.arrl.org/hamfests [ http://www.arrl.org/hamfests ]

Email ARRL Clubs: clubs@arrl.org [ mailto:clubs@arrl.org ]

ARRL Club News is published every month (12 times each year). ARRL members may subscribe at no cost or unsubscribe by editing their Member Data Page at www.arrl.org/opt-in-out [ http://www.arrl.org/opt-in-out ] . Archived issues can be found at www.arrl.
org/club-news [ http://www.arrl.org/club-news ]

Copyright ┬(c) 2024 American Radio Relay League, Incorporated. Use and distribution of this publication, or any portion thereof, is permitted for non-commercial or educational purposes, with attribution. All other purposes require written permission.

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