Radio Happenings 8.26.24

  

First day of School today, the leaves on my apple tree are almost gone... Labor Day is this coming weekend...I think I am catching on that Summer is almost over... There could be an antenna on the bus which coincides with the radio theme of this newsletter... They do have radios ... 

       Busy as always... the CQ Tuesday the 20th, gathering at Bay Family Restaurant was the largest so far this year.. The two largest tables were filled up.. A lot of camaraderie and radio/electronics were discussed.... Towers seem to be one of the major subjects... 

Our other social event was the Club Picnic... Last Saturday at Osprey Point Park 30+ folks gathered for chatting and a lot of good tasting food.. the brats and square burgers going fast ... there were dual colored corn on the cob  - grilled and the sweetness retained .. the timing to end the event was good because the mosquito family was moving in and they had  their own feast just waiting for them .... Thanks goes out to the committee for a great time .... and to all those that brought the dishes to pass... 

      As we constantly see more new radios coming out and  each with their own operating system... D Star, Fusion and more... what about open source radios?  We can remember when the Ham community would be able to experiment and find ways of having freeware or open source ware..  Like FLdigi, FT8 etc..  but a lot of the manufacturers have proprietary locks on the parts that could have been used to open a lot of digital doors so to speak...    

       Steve,KB9MWR, has put together an interesting read about the M17  project - here is a quote from the article.. "As our hobby igrates to digital voice technology, that freedom may be limited by proprietary technology used to code and decode the signals. What experimenters need is an open-source digital standard, ie; a standard that anyone can use without having to buy a license or pay royalties, and that anyone can extend or modify provided that they share their code with the amateur-radio community."     

         I hope you read the article that was sent to the email list ... and become part of the experimentation group that works on open source programs... 

           Calendar of coming events...

           August 31st - Sept 1.. Kites over Lake Michigan

          September 2nd ... Labor Day... 

          September 5th ... Club Board Meeting

          September 11th... Siren Test Net

          September 13th .. GBM&K meeting / Tech Talk @ 6:30

          September 17th .. CQ Tuesday   ;

Club Picnic Flyer

 

                      GREEN BAY MIKE and KEY CLUB

ANNUAL PICNIC

 

Saturday August 24^th

 

Osprey Point Park

3346 Monroe Drive (GV)

 

1400-1800Hrs (2:00-6:00PM)

 

Serving time  15:00Hrs (3:00PM)

Brats/burgers/corn on the cob

Served by the club

 

Please bring a dish to pass

Suggestions

Salads

 Baked Beans

Chips/Dips

Deviled Eggs

Fruit/Veggie Platter

Cheese/sausage

Surprise us

 

If attending, please advise Dave KD9HJJ

 at Davidziesmer53@gmail.com

RADIO HAPPENINGS 8.4.2024

    Although the Solar Flares can produce some beautiful Aurora Borealis in the sky, it can make for some changes in the radio propagation that is variable ... like the Lighthouse Weekend.. While we struggled for contacts at the Grassy Island Range Lights, the group at the Kewaunee Pierhead Lighthouse was even able to contact Auruba...   A big Thank You goes out to the Grassy Island Lighthouse Keepers and the Friends of the Kewaunee Pierhead Lighthouse for allowing us to use their facilities for the event. Also to those operators that participated in the event.. 

       A word from our Club President....... 

Hello Club Members…

One of our July highlights was another successful Brat Barn.  On Saturday, July 13 several members gathered at the East Side Green Bay Festival and enjoyed the day frying and selling brats and burgers.  Thanks to our volunteers, the Brat Barn resulted in a club profit of $619.  We’re done with Brat Barns for this year, but we plan on doing it again in 2025.  Much appreciation goes out to Keith, KS9WI for his leadership as the Brat Barn committee chief.

Larry, Gene, Nick, John, Betty, and Sarah smiling through the smoke at the July Brat Barn.

Something we do each month is the Brown County Siren Test Net.  The purpose of the net is to collect first-hand reports on the operational status of the County’s 60+ warning sirens.  The sirens sound every Wednesday at noon, unless bad weather is forecast…this is to be sure the real thing isn’t confused with a test.  We hold the Siren Net on the second Wednesday of the month at 11:45. Hams check in and report which siren they plan to observe.  At 1200 Noon the sirens go off and the Net Control Station takes reports. It’s very easy…did your siren “sound” and did it “rotate”.  While the report is simple, it’s very important.  Following the net, Dave N8KQS files a report with the Brown County Emergency Manager, stating which sirens were checked and which ones did not function properly.  This information is used by the county in scheduling siren maintenance.  So…if you’re available on the second Wednesday, please find a siren (Dave sends out the complete list to all the members prior to the test) and join the net. It’s a good way to prove that Amateur Radio does indeed serve the community.

I hope to see you at the meeting on Thursday, August 8.  A couple of agenda highlights will include Lighthouse activations and a discussion about the club picnic scheduled for Saturday August 24.  Be there for the Tech Talk at 6:30. This month’s Tech Talker will be Rick, W9OBB (with some input from Keith, KS9WI) who will tell us about Fox Hunting.  This will help us get ready for our Fox Hunt set for September 26. 

Please contact me if you have any questions or suggestions about our club.See you at the meeting…73,

Bill, KB3KYH  (302) 537-4755

 

For the new members, you see CQ Tues. listed below... all Hams are invited to join in lunch at the Bay Family Restaurant ..  usually orders are taken around 11:30.. on the Third Tuesday ... (Back Room) 

    (  Some of the attachments below are not copied to the Website ) 

Attached to this emaill be the notice for the Club Picnic... Please RSVP as indicated.. for a head count.

     Also will be the Treasurer's Report for July.

     And the Siren List for this Wednesday's Siren Test Net... 

     ?  The minutes of the July 11th Meeting... 

    

UPCOMING

August 7^th   Wednesday,,Siren Test Net 11:45 on the 147.120 repeater
August 8^th .. 6:30PM TechTalk St. Norbert College
August 8^th   7PM GBMK Membership Meeting St. Norbert College
August 18^th  Algoma Kite Fly..
August 20^th  CQ Tuesday

August 24th Club Picnic...
Zoom information in web site  Misc: Meetings