Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (B)
To : All
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Fri Dec 01 2017 07:58 am
IN COLORADO, A NEW SANTA IN TOWN
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Looks like there's also a new Santa in town, as we
hear from Caryn Eve Murray, KD2GUT.
CARYN: Like department store Santas, and even sidewalk Santas, amateur
radio Santas will soon be out there. These much-loved seasonal
celebrities bring extra magic to an already enchanted medium. One of
the newest Special Event Santas, N-ZERO-P, comes to us from the Park
County Radio Club in Colorado. This Santa is giving the gift of radio
-- and like the terrestrial Santa, this radio Santa seems to be
everywhere.
DAN: We can do it through EchoLink, we have AllStar available. For our
locals, we have VHF and UHF frequencies available, as well as HF, and
the DMR Channel on TalkGroup 3100 USA.
CARYN: That was Dan Kern, W-ZERO-DFU, who said club volunteers will be
suiting up as the bearded superstar, and his wife, starting December
10th. They will be taking calls on 20 and 40 meters, as well as digital
modes such as PSK-31, and Mrs. Claus will be reachable through DMR.
Best of all, even kids who are in hospitals, or are hearing-impaired
can talk to Santa on the radio too.
DAN: So, we are also offering the ability to communicate via text and
email, but it wouldn't be our standard format using the computer. We
would be sending those texts and emails through our radio via APRS. We
thought with the hearing impaired, it would be a neat way for them to
understand they were on ham radio - and that might also promote ham
radio, where they might not be aware they can go digital with packet,
or PSK-31, and still be on ham radio.
CARYN: This club is spreading good will and good cheer, along with the
good word about amateur radio - that it's a holiday gift that's
accessible to everyone, and can be enjoyed all year round, not just in
a ragchew with Santa. For times, frequencies and other operating
details through Christmas Eve, visit N-ZERO-P's page on QRZ.
Reporting for Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Caryn Eve Murray, KD2GUT.
**
NETS OF NOTE: SOUTHCARS IS A NET ON THE MOVE
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Our occasional series, Nets of Note, returns this week,
with a look at a group of amateurs who are less about ragchewing, and
more about mobile stations on the move. Here's Neil Rapp, WB9VPG.
NEIL: This week, we feature a long standing net on 7.251. SOUTHCARS
is one net of a family of nets, that is intended for mobile stations.
I had a chance to talk to the Net Manager, Rick Hatalski, ND4Z, about
the focus of the net.
RICK: We work on a list of check-ins, which a lot of people aren't
familiar with. We take the suffix only of the call, and establish a
list, and go down one at a time. Mobiles always have priority. We
kind of cater to mobiles, and QRP stations, because mobiles generally
are in a predicament. They on the way to work, they get there, they go
into tunnels, so I think they should have priority. On all the CARS
nets, mobiles have priority.
NEIL: The net has been on the air for 51 years, and has changed to
accommodate more people.
RICK: We find ourselves to be a very busy net. We try to not ragchew a
lot, because we have a real lot of customers. We used to be more of a
ragchew. We had more time to talk. But with the traffic we have, we try
to cut it short, and please everybody. And, we really really have a lot
of check-ins, probably more than most nets.
NEIL: Aside from mobiles and the occasional emergency, the net has also
been a gathering place.
RICK: Well I think we're a little unique in the fact that we really
dwell on helping out people, especially shut-ins. We tend to be an
older net, kind of an old codger net. We really like young people. We
know that young people are crucial. So we'd really like to have more
young people. But the nature of our net, is we have a lot of shut-ins
and handicapped people, who check in with us. Some of them check in all
five sessions every day, seven days a week. So, we really take pride on
trying to make people who are shut-ins, and handicapped, have a place to
go on amateur radio, where everybody's friendly. We're more of a
friendly net, trying to help other amateur radio operators. That's kind
of our goal.
NEIL: And SOUTHCARS even knows how to party!
RICK: We have luncheons and get-togethers. We generally have things like
the Golden Corral, and restaurants like that, where we have a free
tailgate for people to buy, sell and trade ham gear. Then, we usually go
into the restaurants, and have a nice meal. We do this several times a
year. We have a picnic in the mountains of North Georgia once a year.
So, we have a lot of fun. We have a lot of good fellowship on SOUTHCARS.
NEIL: You can find SOUTHCARS on 7.251, and online at southcars.com. With
this week's "Net of Note", I'm Neil Rapp, WB9VPG, reporting for Amateur
Radio Newsline.
**
BREAK HERE
Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline,
heard on bulletin stations around the world, including the North Coast
Amateur Radio Club's K8SCI repeater, in Brunswick, Ohio, on Sundays at
9 p.m. during the weekly info net.
---
� Synchronet � The Thunderbolt BBS - wx1der.dyndns.org
