Grays Harbor Amateur Radio Club
WA Non Profit Corporation - 501(c)3
Welcome to GHARC
Grays Harbor Amateur Radio Club (GHARC) started in April 1954, is a nonprofit, IRS 501.(c).3 recognized, organization dedicated to Amateur Radio. We promote science, math, education, public service, emergency services and preparedness through HAM Radio use and provide a support network for all levels of Amateur Radio enthusiasts and interested parties. We provide technical support, training, and Volunteer Examiner (VE) for license testing at all levels for Amateur Radio enthusiasts
Latest News for Grays Harbor Amateurs
The HF Renaissance in the US Army
Great information from a US Military perspective on the rebirth of HF communications. There is a focus on NVIS and Prof. Col. Stephen Hamilton, KJ5HY debunks several myths such as NVIS skip zones. Stephen also talks about a direction finding system used by the military to determine the source of the received signal was was verified to be the ionosphere and at almost 90 degrees.
Amateur proves that NVIS does not have a skip zone
This is a 3 1/2" floppy drive for those that have never seen one in real life. These held a whopping 1.44MB and Windows 3.11 had five of them in the box
What's a node ?
Back to the 1980's - GHARC has been doing some W7ZA System testing and what is better to test RF than some VARA FM Narrow and Wide signals. VARA by Jose EA5HVK uses OFDM and slides in under the FCC symbol limit with plenty of room to spare. Impressive speeds are available on FM using 20Khz channels. It also allows for field testing and SNR measurements. If you listen to 146.900 you will hear some digital tones and transmissions as we prepare to move testing to the South Montesano site.
To allow for unattended testing and to also prepare for other systems, we are using Jon Wiseman's G8BPQ Node software from the late 1980's and into the 1990's. This software was orignally DOS based and then was used in multitasking environments such as DesqView. G8BPQ code survives today and has evolved with time. It is now available in Windows 32 bit version and a Linux version. The original idea was to be able to connect between Nodes and then directly to users using AX.25 and callsigns. Jon has continued to add new features such as an interface to a BBS as well as a BBS system itself.
The standard is to use an SSID on the Node callsign to access each application.
-1 - Chat application
-9 - The Node itself - connecting provides a list of commands and apps
-10 - A link to the WinLink CMS via the local RMS gateway
So this is yet another Node being setup for the W7ZA System. The term "Node" is one of the most over used name in amateur radio. In this case the G8BPQ node allows many digital applicaitions to connect and send data across.
Watch for an update to this article and a future post that explains what will be permanent available. If you want to test Vara FM download the software and connect to your VHF radio and contact info@gharc.net for more information or call us at 360-777-6655
** Rescheduled ** Amateurs Needed for Frosty Moss
What: Frosty Moss Relay Event
When: Saturday April 1st 2023 - Note - Rescheduled due to weather issues
Who: Peninsula Adventure Sports
Where: Clallam County - Olympic Peninsula
Why: Fun !! Operating our radios in the outdoors ...
It will be Frosty and Mossy and maybe even some snow but join a few GHARC Members with a Relay Run in Clallam County - coined as "Frosty Moss - Olympic Discovery Relay" rescheduled to Saturday April 1st, 2023. We are heading up early Saturday morning aimed for downtown Forks and then to our assigned checkpoints. All you need is a VHF portable or mobile and we have spares if you need one. You do not need to be a GHARC Member but you need to contact us to get on the list.
Email: info@gharc.net or n7lol@gharc.net
Call: 360-777-6655 GHARC Helpdesk
Visit: www.w7za.org
WHO
You and your best road and trail running buddies. Form a team of 2 – 5 people (Full Moss) or 1(50k solo), 2, 3, or 4 people (Mini Moss). Any mix of age, gender, and ability, as long as your team can average a 12-minute pace or faster. Load up your team van with food, drinks, extra layers, tunes, and a fun competitive spirit.
WHEN
Saturday, April 1st, 2023. Wave starts based on teams’ projected average pace. Team captains are asked to attend the Friday evening packet pickup: 5-9pm at 7 Cedars Resort
WHERE
The Olympic Peninsula in Washington state. Frosty Moss HQ is based in Port Angeles, where the mountains greet the sea. The course follows the Olympic Discovery Trail and the Adventure Route. Mini Moss begins at the end of Ediz Hook in Port Angeles (all pavement; no trail running).
Great video from Bryan Fields, W9CR about the history of the VHF/2m Band. This is a great information as we begin to re-channelize and narrowband in the Pacific Northwest
Be sure to visit our WWA ARRL Section website, you will recognize a few amateurs that represent our area and you likely have heard a few of these leaders on the air. For many, WWA is just what we use when logging our Field Day contacts, these are the people behind that.
The Capitol Peak Repeater Group is having their Annual Repeater Meeting on Saturday, February 25th, 2023 at 1:00pm.
Who: Capitol Peak Repeater Group
When: Saturday February 25th at 1:00pm
Where: South Bay Fire Department 3506 Shincke Rd NE, Olympia WA 98506
The 145.470- repeater covers a signifcant portion of Grays Harbor County and many local amateurs are members of this group. Consider attending the meeting and joining the group. We often use this repeater system which is on Capitol Peak for events and emergency communications due to the wide coverage. A coverage map shows how this repeater covers well of the Coast and much of Grays Harbor.
Destination Trail Ultra Marathon - BigFoot 200
Hans
Ghost Ham - Michael NA7Q
Edie N7LOL-1 Hanging out with a runner. Many are dog owners but they are not able to bring them along
This is the runner check-in station staffed by the AID Station and direct out on Winlink
Emcomm to an extreme, use of amateur radio to support runner and event safety
All bands
All modes
All weather
All night
Join 40+ other Amateurs in the Gifford Pinchot National forest. You will learn new skills and improve your exisiting communications abilities. This can be for one day or you can stay for all five days. No radios are required, operators are needed. Many amateur modes are used such as Winlink, Packet, FM, DMR and others across many bands from 80m to 5cm
BigFoot Hams 2023
August 11th - 15th
Nick KC1OTX recommends taking your amateur radio with you and to invest in snow tires
Rescued by Amateur Radio
December 4th, 2022
This story from WMUR-TV about how amateur radio rescued two people stranded in icy conditions in the Pittsburg New Hampshire area.
Nick KC1OTX was off the roadway and his friend Ben was injured and there was no cellular phone service. Using the Mount Washington Repeater System W1NH he contacted Derrek and Roger K1DFA and they worked out a system to communicate and emergency services were sent to the location and rescued the two. Nick recommends taking your amateur radio with you and investing in snow tires.
KLGX is in our backyard, looks like some service life extension being completed and this site will be off air January 26th through February 2nd
NOAA Weather Radio - Capitol Peak - Outage Update
WXM62 162.475 @ Capitol Peak which covers a majority of Grays Harbor was on this outage list since the December 23rd 2022 ice storm. Looks like it is back in service. Check your weather radios and make sure they have not scanned to another frequency.
National Weather Service - NWR Outages - You can report NWR Transmitter Problems online
GHARC has been working on a new Program that will be member supported and manually and automatically check the Noaa Weather Radios that cover our area. We are also working to have NWR audio be available on the W7ZA System
WXM62 Coverage Map
Photo by Daniel Frank: https://www.pexels.com/photo/dog-on-concrete-road-688835/
This can be related to communication needs in Grays Harbor. Consider your neighborhood and what are options you have available. As local amateurs we have access to all of these and live and work in the community.
GHARC is expanding and linking our W7ZA Net and also beginning to deploy other systems such as GMRS.
We will be adding all three local NOAA Weather Radio, NWR systems to the streaming soon as well as some more local amateur radio
Grays Harbor Amateur Radio Club is supporting streaming to Broadcastify
Bob Carter - W7TSS
Bob Carter - W7TSS - Silent Key
It is with sadness that we update all local amateurs on the death of a long-time GHARC Member,
Robert Raymon Carter - W7TSS - Montesano
Bob became a Silent Key on December 18th, 2022 and had been a longstanding member of The Grays Harbor Amateur Radio Club and had a well known collection of tube radios and amplifiers. Bob's call was W7TSS and he was 87 years old at the time of his passing.
Here are two links with more information and with one noting the following service:
Friday January 20th, 2023 @ 11am
St. John's Catholic Church
414 East Broadway Ave
Montesano, WA 98563
https://www.thedailyworld.com/obituaries/robert-raymon-bob-carter/
https://harrisonfamilymortuary.com/book-of-memories/5097726/Carter-Robert/index.php
For amateurs in the US and Canada (and their possessions) to work as many amateur stations in as many different 2 degrees x 1 degree Maidenhead grid squares as possible using authorized frequencies above 50 MHz. Stations outside the US & Canada (and their possessions) may only work stations in arrl.org/january-vhf the US (and its possessions) and Canada.
Grays Harbor hams can watch for participants on APRS and listen on 146.520 FM, in our area we have several multi grid square locations.
When: January 21st - 23rd, 2023
Where: To a grid square of your choice
Contest Period: Begins 1900 UTC Saturday, ends 0359 UTC Monday.
Rules: JanJunSep-VHF-Rules.pdf (arrl.org)
Tell your friends and neighbors!
The Grays Harbor Amateur Radio Club (GHARC) will be holding a license testing event
Who: Grays Harbor Amateur Radio Club
When: Thursday February 16th @ 7pm
Where: 1250 Friedlander Drive in Aberdeen
New or upgrade. Walk-ins welcome.
Please bring a $15 testing fee and your FRN. They are required. New licensees will need to pay a $35 fee directly to the FCC to complete their license. Upgrades have no fee for the FCC.
Study material and unlimited practice tests are available online at www.aarg.club and other sites.
For reservations or questions, please phone or text to Lee Schwarz, 425-780-9226, or email to K7LCS@arrl.net
Also, we are looking for ARRL Volunteer Examiners that are available for this session. GHARC membership is not required. Please contact us at 360-777-6655 and fill out the VE Session form
Why-Not-Chee Bicycle Event
Provided communications support for a bicycle race around Lake Wynoochee, there will be a past event slideshow uploaded in the Events section of the website
There is a slideshow in the Events
Membership Meetings
Early in the year we transitioned to hybrid meetings. We are holding our meetings at the Hoquiam Timberland Regional Library at 1900 on the First Thursday of each month. We are also making these meetings available online, Live using the Google Workspace Meets platform. We purchased some minimal equipment to support these meetings and are working to streamline this.
Committee Meetings
Committees have various meeting schedules and the Organization portion of the website will provide information for each committee and we try to keep the calendar updated with the times for each committee. Several committees meet on Thursdays.
Grays Harbor DART
There will be a past event uploaded describing the Grays Harbor DART mission. We were part of a reginonal event in June 2022
ARRL Field Day 2022
An annual ARRL sponsored event, we will upload a past event for Field Day 2022 with the highlight being the installation and use of a 160m loop antenna
