Clarksville Operating Radio Enthusiasts to promote severe weather awareness at the Customs House Museum.

As we move into Spring the question is not IF middle Tennessee will see severe weather but is instead how much and how bad.

In recent years scarcely a year has gone by where Middle Tennessee communities have not suffered damage from wind, heavy rains, lightning and tornadoes.  How to deal with severe weather is something that anyone in Middle Tennessee should know.

With this though in mind the Clarksville Operating Radio Enthusiasts will be operating a special event station at the Customs House Museum on Saturday March 27 2010 from 10:30 to 3:30.  Amateur Radio operators will be on hand to demonstrate Amateur Radio communications and to discuss how Amateur Radio operators provide support during severe weather through initiatives such as SkyWarn and ARES. 

The Clarksville Operating Radio Enthusiasts invite all members of the community to come join us for this event.

For those interested in obtaining an Amateur Radio License testing will be offered from 11:00 am until 2:00 pm.  The cost is $15.00 to take any test and if you pass one test you can take the next at no additional cost.  There are 3 classes of Amateur Radio licenses; Technician, General and Extra.  Each test is more involved and technical than the previous test and each license class includes privileges on more frequency than the last one.  Amateur Radio Exams MUST be passed in the following order; Technician, General, Extra.

The Clarksville Operating Radio Enthusiasts look forward to seeing you on Saturday March 27.

Amateur Radio Stations will be operated in the Coca Cola Cafe and testing will be in the classroom downstairs.

Thank You
The Clarksville Operating Radio Enthusiasts

APRS with K2LAW and N4PJX at CORE meeting on Tuesday March 9

This month CORE is changing our meeting day from the second Thursday of the month to the second Tuesday, this will be a permanent change and our meeting this month will be on Tuesday March 9 2010.

We have a special agenda planned this month.  Howard Thompson (K2LAW) and Rob Devlin (N4PJX) will be presenting to the group about the Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS). 

One of the most common misunderstandings about APRS is that it just transmits your location, but this couldn’t be farther from the truth.  APRS is a fully featured digital mode which allows two way text messaging and transmission of data quickly and reliably. 

Howard and Rob will elaborate on this at our meeting on Tuesday and all Amateurs are encouraged to attend.

Again, the meeting will be on Tuesday March 10 2010 at 6:30 pm at the Park Lane Church of the Nazarene in Clarksville.  Click below for a map and directions.

Park Lane Church of the Nazarene.

We’ll see you at the meeting!

American Hospital Association requests permanent waiver of 97.113 to allow hospital employees to participate in drills

The American Hospital Association has asked the FCC for a permanent waiver of 97.113 specifically to allow hospital employees who are Licensed Amateur Radio Operators to participate in emergency communications drills over Amateur Radio. 

In response to this request the Federal Communications Commission has opened a comment period asking concerned parties to submit their comments and opinions on this subject.  All Amateur Radio Operators are encouraged to review the public notice and submit your thoughts on this subject to the FCC.

The public notice is located at http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-10-365A1.pdf

Local Amateur Radio Operators assist red cross with disaster drill

On the morning of February 20 an F1 tornado touched down in North Clarksville leaving a path of devastation in it’s wake… Ok, not really, but this was the scenario for an American Red Cross disaster drill which was held on Saturday February 20.  The drill parameters dictated that communications towers in the area had been destroyed making cell phones useless. 

Clarksville hams stepped up to the plate to assist the Red Cross in this drill just like they would in the event of an actual disaster.

Amateur Radio operators from the Clarksville Operating Radio Enthusiasts and the Clarksville Amateur Transmitting Society showed up and provided all of the communications for the excercise.

Net control functions were provided by CATS Vice President John Freed, KX6F

CORE members James Kennedy, WU5E; David Abney, KG4EUU;  and Eric Gregory, KJ4GXU acted as drivers and communications specialists for the Disaster Assessment teams while CATS member Lee Daniel, KI4LEL acted as the communcations operator for the Disaster Assessment supervisor Karina Aponte, KJ4LCG.

Shelter communications were handled by CATS President Jim Shelton.

Together with the Red Cross these operators were able to coordinate shelter operations and communications with other local agencies all while a mock damage assessment was performed on several thousand homes in the space of a few hours.

This drill was a perfect example of how Amateur Radio operators can act in cooperation with local agencies and each other to provide services to the public in times of crisis.  Both major Amateur Radio clubs in the area, The Clarksville Operating Radio Enthusiasts and the Clarksville Amateur Transmitting Society showed their willingness to give of their time, skills and equipment to support the Red Cross and our community.

It was through the contributions of these operators and all of the red cross volunteers which included nurses, shelter volunteers, administrative staff and more that this drill was able to successfully accomplish the tasks set forth.

New Photos added to Field Day 2009 Gallery

Today, February 15 2010, Twenty new photos have been added to the field day 2009 gallery.  These photos came to us courtesy of David (KG4EUU).  Check out these and all the other Field Day 2009 photos at http://k4ore.net/activities/field-day-2009/