Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Fieldday June 24-25 2017

  Fieldday is here again and will be held at the Lion's Barn the 24 & 25. Early setup will be on Friday the 23rd at 4:00 pm (antennas) and Saturday the 24th at 9 or 10 am in the morning (radios & power.) The special club auction of ham radio equipment that was graciously donated to EARS will begin at 1:00 pm Saturday (so bring your checkbook "checks only".) Of course the ARRL fieldday starts at 2:00 pm Saturday. EARS members and spouses cookout begins at 6:00 pm Saturday, bring a side dish or desert! If you or a friend is going to the Rodeo then show up a couple hours early and hang out with us on the air before watching the Cowboys (and girls.)  The close of fieldday comes officially at 2:00 pm Sunday, but if the weather is bad we might finish earlier than that. Remember this is fieldday and with TS Cindy in the Gulf it will rain on us at some point, so have your wet weather gear. More info on our EARS FD page.

P.S. Don't forget the bug spray.

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

 Christmas Party and New Year Salutations


Winn Hall  WA4KKW, who was in St. Lucia, used EchoLink to contact us during the Christmas Party, whishing us all a Merry Christmas.  Many members were using their HT’s to monitor his call.

Several members of the club also took a guided tour of the repeater above the water tower.  The tour guide being Paul Craft KE4GC.

Letter from the EARS Club President – Happy New Year
I want to thank the 27 members and several guests who braved the cold and attended 2015’s first EARS Radio Club meeting last night. 
The club is excited in that we received 5 new member applications at the meeting!
A special “Thank You” to the speakers; Ray Hughes - CERT, John Mullinix - Ham Fest / Preppers Fair, Dave Meadows - Ham Cram,
Winn Hall – St. Lucia Buddie Pole excursion, Jim Hadder – ARES. 
Our Ham Fest / Preppers Fair (March 21) is most likely this years biggest event and will need member support.  If you have expertise or contacts in marketing please get in touch with me so I can coordinate with John Mullinix (Program Manager).  If you are aware of any business that might be a good fit for vendors, let me know as well!
I also welcome your suggestions for making this event a big success!

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Field Day Results Are In

The long-awaited results from the 2014 Field Day competition are in.  EARS members transmitted under the club call sign of KK4AFG, and we had a total of 406 contacts, utilizing 11 operators and we had a final score of 1,890 points. 

While we finished 195th in the nation in our 3A class (3 stations operating), we were 5th in Georgia, behind North Fulton (5th overall) who had 3,484 contacts, using 356 operators and scoring 12,300 points; the Tri-City Radio Club (129th) who had 569 contacts, using 26 operators and scoring 2,724 points; NE4GA, (150th) who had 418 contacts, using 16 operators and scoring 2,364 points, and the Kennehoochee Radio Club (151st) who had 429 contacts, using 68 operators and scoring 2,350 points.

Ears averaged 36.9 contacts and 171.82 points per operator.  North Fulton averaged 9.79 contacts and 34.55 points per operator.  Tri-City Radio Club averaged 21.88 contacts and 104.77 points per operator.  NE4GA averaged 26.13 contacts and 147.75 points per operator.  Finally, Kennehoochee Radio Club averaged 6.31 contacts and 34.56 points per operator.

The winning club in the country for Class 3A was Rochester DX Association in Western NY.  They had 4,068 contacts, with 30 operators and scored 14,340 points.  Their per operator figures were 135.6 contacts and 478 points.  Considerably better than EARS, but look what they did with a few less than 3 times our number of operators.

Based on the figures of contacts per operator and points per operator, EARS finished 1st in GA.  We just need more operators for next year and we will be able to do much better with overall contacts and overall points.

Even though we weren't in the top echelon of contacts or points, everybody who operated had a great time.  Our only regret is that we weren't able to share the fun with more EARS members.

Monday, November 3, 2014

EARS Youngest Member Passes General Class License Test

After the Thursday October 11, 2014 EARS meeting, our youngest club member, Jimmy Hitt, KK4QGN, took and passed his General Class license test.  Jimmy originally was licensed as a Technician Class operator on April 4, 2013.  Please congratulate Jimmy on his new license upgrade and welcome him into the world of HF operating.

Acting as Volunteer Examiners for Jimmy's testing were David Meadows, K4LDI, EARS VE Coordinator; John Mullinix, KF4SKT and Jody Huneycutt, K4EPH.

Jimmy has also been very active in Gilmer County ARES, having earned his State ARES credentials badge last year.  

Saturday, October 4, 2014

Two pass License Test today

Saturday October 4, 2014, besides being unseasonably cool, was a banner day for Ross Goodall from Jacksonville, FL and Tom Cannaday, from Blue Ridge, GA.  Both passed their licensing test today at the EARS 4th Quarter, 2014 VE test session. 

Ross upgraded his license from General to Extra, while Tom got his initial Technician ticket.

Best wishes from the EARS membership to both.  Have fun with your new privileges.

VE's for today's testing were Dave Meadows, K4LDI; Bret Smith, W4HBS and Jody Huneycutt, K4EPH.  Thanks to all for donating their time to help other hams.

If you are interested in becoming a ham radio licensee, or, if already a ham with either a General, Advanced or Extra classification, and you're interested in becoming a Volunteer Examiner, contact Dave Meadows at  706-276-4043.  He can tell you how.

EARS Members help provide ARES radio communications at Georgia Jewel

From early Saturday morning, September 27 thru early Sunday morning, September 28, EARS member and Gilmer County ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) Emergency Coordinator (EC) Jim Hadder, KE4ZX, and his crew of radio operators manned the radio station set up on Manning Mill Road on the Pinhoti Trail in south Walker County, for the 2014 Georgia Jewel trail race. 

They passed traffic on runner locations and safety with continuous updates from radio stations all along the 100 mile course of the Jewel, providing race officials with an almost real-time picture of how the race was progressing and making sure that any injuries or lost runners were reported to the appropriate officials as quickly as possible.

Assisting Jim on the early morning shift, running from about 9:00 a.m. thru 4:00 p.m. were Ron Pace, AA4RP and Don Nickle, KK4HJP. 

Manning the late afternoon/evening shift were Sharon Huneycutt, KK4NTD; Jody Huneycutt, K4EPH and James Huneycutt, KM4AUX.  Jim worked with that shift also, while trying to get a few hours of sack time in the front seat of his pickup during the early evening hours.

Coming on at midnight were David Ross, KK4NTC and Jimmy Hitt, KK4QGN, and Jim was right there with them, all night, until the end of the race, around 8 a.m.

No flooding was reported this year.

EARS Foxhunt Report

On Saturday October 4, 2014, the Ellijay Amateur Radio Society held it's 1st foxhunt (ARDF - Amateur Radio Direction Finding event).  The hunt was held at the ETC pavilion on Legion Road, immediately after Bama's annual Ham Operator picnic.

Four EARS members attended the picnic and stayed over for the fox hunt.  Winn Hall, WA4KKW;  David Ross, KK4NTC; Jody Huneycutt, K4EPH and Kirk Kirchgasler, KK5USA.  Sharon Huneycutt, KK4NTD also attended the picnic, but did not participate in the foxhunt.

The first fox was hidden by Winn, and hunted by Kirk, Jody and David.  Then Jody hid the fox so that Winn had an opportunity to try out the antennas.  This fox was a low power one, provided for our use today by member Ed (Fitz) Fitzsimmons.

On the second hunt, only one hunter searched and the fox was found after several false starts.  The fox transmitter for this hunt was a higher power model than the first one, and in addition to transmitting a carrier wave, it also transmitted a code identification, W4HHH, the club callsign.  This antenna is also an Ed Fitzpatrick design and build, using an old HT for a transmitter.

Several owners of fox hunt antennae were unable to attend, due either to other commitments or to illness.  We missed you all and hope you can come next time we have a hunt.

Don't forget our regular monthly meeting next Thursday evening at 6:30 for fellowship and 7:00 for the meeting, United Community Bank.  See you there.