CMSARA

Central Mississippi Amateur Radio Association

Archives for 2015

CMSARA Members Support MS-150 Bike Race

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[dropcap]A[/dropcap]t least eight members of the Central Mississippi Amateur Radio Association worked the 2015 MS-150 Bike Ride for Multiple Sclerosis fund-raising. A two-day, multiple course event, CMSARA members handled Net Control, rest stop stations, and other communications duties to support the bike riders and coordinators for the event. Including Mike McKay N5DU, Bill White, K5BLL, Rusty Yates KG5FSA, Don Porter AF5QD, Robert Errington KF5IZ, Bob Bullock K5RWB, Mike Flanagan WM5A, Dana Pierce KF5WDL, and Brian Castleberry AG5BC, CMSARA has worked with the Jackson ARC to provide amateur radio communications and logistical support services free-of-charge to the MS-150 operational staff.

Scenes from the event taken by Bob Bullock K5RWB, Public Information Officer for CMSARA, are shown below…

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Founder of FlexRadio Systems to Speak to CMSARA in November

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Gerald Youngblood K5SDR

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Central Mississippi Amateur Radio Association (cmsara.org) is proud to announce that the founder of software-defined radio (SDR), Gerald F. Youngblood K5SDR, will be speaking in Brandon MS on November 30, 2015. Youngblood is a native of Mississippi and founded the leading manufacturer of computer-based radio transceivers for both amateur and commercial sectors in 2003. His company, FlexRadio Systems, is located in Austin Texas where he serves as President & CEO of the privately-held corporation. Gerald holds the B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Mississippi State University. His speech is entitled, “SDR – Changing Ham Radio Forever” with audience questions and media interviews afterwards. The presentation will be held at the Rankin County Extension Service Office / Emergency Operations Center located at 601 Marquette Road, Brandon, MS beginning at 7 pm. The public is invited and there is no charge. For more information, please contact CMSARA at 601-345-1654 or centralmsara@gmail.com.

More Donations…

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John Struemph K1JHS at 2015 Field Day

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he donations of audio-visual equipment to CMSARA have continued! New member John Struemph K1JHS recently donated two vintage commercial television video cameras and control units to the Association. “We greatly appreciate the support of great hams like John,” said President McKay N5DU. Frank Howell K4FMH added, “The standard definition quality of broadcast television back in the 1980s era was cutting edge at the time. John’s donation was used to barter for a current High-Definition video camera by Canon.” Special Events Coordinator Mike Flanagan WM5A said, “This was the missing piece in our ability to record high quality video from our monthly speakers and our special events activities. It could not have come at a better time!”.

John K1JHS is a current member of the Board of Directors of the Jackson Amateur Radio Club and an ardent DXer. John said, “This equipment has been in storage for a few years so I was very happy to answer the call when I found out that CMSARA was in need of adding video equipment to the other donations it has received from the membership.“ [Read more…] about More Donations…

Association Launches Social Media Presence

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[dropcap]C[/dropcap]ontinuing the Board initiative on “branding” the CMSARA, the Association has launched a presence on social media. And, with a new member taking the lead!

Rusty KG5FSA

Rusty Yates KG5FSA recently joined CMSARA and volunteered to help out any way he could. Rusty is an IT professional at UMMC in Jackson. When he learned from Frank K4FMH, the webmaster, that the Association wanted to extend its marketing “brand” into social media, he volunteered to take the lead on it. Quickly, we now have a significant presence. “It is really great when the Association allows new members to get involved quickly with the talents they bring to the table. It was just a couple of months ago that the Board pondered continuing our “brand” by expanding our social media presence! It’s even better when a new ham and member volunteers to stand and deliver on those needs,” said President Mike McKay N5DU.

“When Frank K4FMH told me about the interest in expanding into social media, I told him I would be willing to take it on. But I said I didn’t want to barge in on someone else’s turf. He quickly assured me that no toes would be stepped on as CMSARA needed all the dance partners it could get! Everyone has been really friendly and interested in trying new ideas,” Rusty KG5FSA added.

[Read more…] about Association Launches Social Media Presence

Got an Oscilloscope? Here’s Why You Should

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Tom AE5I talking about oscilloscopes

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]om AE5I gave a talk at the September meeting of CMSARA about oscilloscopes. What most hams lack is a global view of the family of oscilloscope instruments rather than a limited experience of one type. Tom Brown’s passion in laboratory bench equipment is the oscilloscope. It showed! He not only knows the technical elements of the history of oscilloscope development but the “players” who were instrumental in each step.

Time Domain Reflector Signal Display

The types of oscilloscopes he covered included: Analog, Digital, Real-Time Sampling, Storage (Analog), and Digitizing. To most hams, these various types of devices are…well, just confusing unless you’ve used ‘scopes before. In an uncomplicated way, AE5I conveyed how and why these various designs came to be. He also filled-in the gaps with the specific engineers who developed key types of innovation leading to the evolution of oscilloscope design. How spectrum analyzers are variants of ‘scopes was an intriguing aspect of last month’s talk.

This talk was the global overview preparation for next month’s Special Madison Event on Tuesday, October 12, 2015, at a site to be announced on this website by Mike Flanagan WM5A, Special Events Coordinator for CMSARA. Tom AE5I will have a number of his own oscilloscope instruments on-site and live at this October talk. Attendees will be able to see the screen and controls very clearly from the audience through the new Elmo display device donated to the Association. This will be a great informative program. Stay tuned!

AE5I’s slides from Part 1 of his oscilloscope talk in PDF format are available here.

ARRL “Clarity on Amateur Radio Parity” Statement Separates Fact from Fiction

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(Webmaster Note: taken from ARRL.org)

The ARRL has taken steps to address objections and concerns recently raised by representatives of community associations about the Amateur Radio Parity Act of 2015 — H.R. 1301 and S. 1685. A statement released on August 28, “Clarity on Amateur Radio Parity,” makes it clear that the bill would not create new federal policy with respect to outdoor amateur antennas. As it points out, the FCC already recognizes a strong federal interest in effective Amateur Radio communication from residences and has adopted a limited preemption of state and local regulation of Amateur Radio antennas. The Amateur Radio Parity Act of 2015 would extend the limited preemption to private land-use restrictions. [Read more…] about ARRL “Clarity on Amateur Radio Parity” Statement Separates Fact from Fiction

CMSARA Upgrades AV Equipment for Meeting Presentations (updated)

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[dropcap]F[/dropcap]ocusing on the benefits of having good programs at each monthly meeting, CMSARA has begun upgrading the audio-video equipment assets owned by the Association. “Thanks to the donations by a CMSARA member,” said President Mike McKay N5DU, “we now have the start for a major enhancement of our capabilities for multimedia use by guest speakers. This will allow the Association or other individual members to donate equipment to further our capability to better enjoy the details of what a speaker has to say.” He added, “Since CMSARA is a registered non-profit with 501(c)(3) status, donations of equipment or money qualifies as a possible tax deduction for donors.”

New Push-Up Screen

CMSARA now has an 80″ Inch 4:3 format pull-up floor projection screen with a built-in aluminum storage case. Special Events Coordinator Mike Flanagan WM5A said, “This greatly helps the projected images be clearer to the audience. And it’s a snap to setup, which I like since I usually do this task!” CMSARA has previously used the painted wall behind the speaker’s podium as a provisional screen. “This worked ok but the crystal coating on projection screens make the details clearer and the image much brighter to the audience,” N5DU elaborated.

Elmo HD Visual Presenter with Speaker Screen

Another donation is an Elmo Visual Presenter Document Camera HV-5100XG with Color LCD Monitor LM-5611A. This device allows the speaker to show an object—such as a radio or circuit board—on a light board with a high resolution, auto-focusing camera that sends the image to a projector as an input like a Powerpoint presentation. This device has side lights so as to emphasize the 3D object being shown. It will take a PC input (such as with a Powerpoint or PDF slide deck or perhaps a software program) and the speaker can easily switch between these two inputs. It also has a remote control so the speaker can move around more easily from the Elmo device. A hard shell case was included for easy storage and transport to other locations. [Read more…] about CMSARA Upgrades AV Equipment for Meeting Presentations (updated)

Magnolia Intertie Nears Launch

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magnolia-intertie.com

[dropcap]A[/dropcap]t August’s meeting, the how and why of a new non-profit corporation, the Magnolia Intertie Incorporated, was described by Frank Howell K4FMH, President of the company. Why? “Fundamentally, we do this because we hams want to have ‘fun’ in the practice of our hobby. In this case, a linked backbone of repeaters around Mississippi will also be a great service to those in need of communications in times of emergency.” Over 35 amateur radio operators and those ready for the FCC examination were in attendance at this monthly meeting. The Intertie’s website can be found at magnolia-intertie.com.

Frank K4FMH

Howell said he spent a full year researching other successful Intertie systems around the U.S. All had various suggestions on methods to utilize in linking repeater systems but all also had one definitive piece of advice: DO NOT try to organize a confederation of club repeaters! They said while it’s the quickest way to get a bunch of repeaters linked but it’s the most certain way to have it fail in a short time and with rancor between the Intertie and those clubs. Howell said that the Magnolia Intertie has heeded that set of recommendations. Clubs and other organizations, such as ARES chapters, MEMA, the National Weather Service, Storm Spotters, the Salvation Army, the American Red Cross, may apply to connect to the Intertie’s backbone system through a mechanism that is being developed by a working group of Board members and technical advisors, the Network Operations Working Committee. The NOWC is chaired by Mike N5DU. Mike is also the current President of CMSARA and Secretary-Treasurer of Magnolia Intertie Inc. [Read more…] about Magnolia Intertie Nears Launch

Rankin Co ARES to Participate in SET

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[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Rankin County ARES team, led by Emergency Coordinator Mike Flanagan WM5A and Asst EC Mike Dancey WX5H, will fully participate in the ARRL MS Section Simulated Emergency Test (SET). A planning meeting held on Tuesday, August 3, 2015, at the Gluckstadt technology company L3 Communications facilitated the planning. Robert Hayes KC5IMN, District 1 EC, and Malcolm Keown W5XX, Section Director, gave presentations about the SET and it’s fundamentals as organized by the new Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator, Rez Johnson K1REZ.

Rez has prepared an initial website for the Section ARES organization, located at msares.org. The full set of documents for this Saturday’s SET can be found at this link. Please review some or all of these planning documents before the SET on Saturday. [Read more…] about Rankin Co ARES to Participate in SET

CMSARA Adopts New Logo

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[dropcap]A[/dropcap]t the July meeting, the CMSARA membership received a report from the Board of Directors regarding the recommended adoption of an official logo representing the Association. The previously used logo was simply something constructed ad hoc years ago.

The Association’s volunteer webmaster, Frank K4FMH, presented a report he had prepared on “market branding” and the Central MS Amateur Radio Association. He said, “Our brand is derived from who we are, who we want to be and who people perceive us to be.” Using the position taken by the American Marketing Association, Frank went further in presenting the candidate logo to those in attendance. [Read more…] about CMSARA Adopts New Logo