ARRL Commemorates 98th Anniversary of Transatlantic Contact

December 11 marks the 98th anniversary of the success of ARRL’s Transatlantic Tests in 1921, organized to see if low-power amateur radio stations could be heard across the Atlantic using shortwave frequencies (i.e., above 200 meters). On that day, a message transmitted by a group of Radio Club of America members at 1BCG in Greenwich, Connecticut, was copied by Paul Godley, 2ZE, in Scotland.

While the first two-way contact would not take place until 1923, the 1921 transatlantic success marked the beginning of what would become routine communication between US radio amateurs and those in other parts of the world — literally the birth of DX.

To commemorate this amateur radio milestone, Maxim Memorial Station W1AW will be on the air through the day on December 11 with volunteer operators. The goal is to encourage contacts between radio amateurs in the US and Europe while showcasing the significance of the transmissions that pioneered global communication and laid the groundwork for technology widely used today. The event will run from 1300 until 0000 UTC. Some details are still being worked out, but operation will focus on 40 and 20 meters (SSB).

November Testing

Exciting news!

Testing for new Hams and those wanting to upgrade licenses should resume in November.

Dave Raskin, W5TYL, our Contact Volunteer Examiner has renewed his W5YI certification.

Testing to beheld Saturday November 23’ at 10:00 AM.

Testing will be held at the Taos County Emergency Management Center, 6 Miranda Canyon Rd. See map to meeting location . Please RSVP to taosarc@live.com to be certain of a test. Fee is $14.00 check to Taos ARC.

RadCom Basics now out

The September 2019 edition of RadCom Basics is now at rsgb.org/radcom-basics.

In this edition—

• Welcome to the latest edition from Lee, G4EJB, RadCom Basics editor

• How and why the HF bands come alive in autumn

• Using digital repeaters

• Moving up

• Glossary of terms

To read the articles, you’ll need to sign in with your RSGB Membership Services account.

To join the RadCom Basics mailing list and find out as soon as a new edition is available, log into Membership Services, go to Update Preferences, and click the Subscribe link next to RadCom Basics.

Originally published at https://rsgb.org/main/blog/front-page-news/2019/09/27/radcom-basics-now-out/.

New Club Officers, 2019-2020

We are excited to announce our 2019/2020 Officers! They were elected during the monthly meeting on 9/11/2019.

Michael Kittredge, President, NM5MK

Tim Henson, Vice President, W5TNM

Glen Romero, Treasurer, KF50SB

Tom Trojnar , Secretary, KF5RKM

Another First for TaosARC!

Yesterday, November 15, 2014, at approximately 16:15 hours the first known 33cm band QSO took place in Taos between Lew Baker, K5LEW and Brian Williams, NB5R on 913.000MHz simplex using Alinco DJ-G29 handheld radios at 1.5W. Lew and Brian were each operating from their home QTH, in Llano Quemado and Lower Las Colonias, respectively. Both stations reported 599 signals while standing outside. As expected on that frequency, signals degraded when operating from indoors.

This is the latest band to be activated in the Taos area, following TARC’s objective of utilizing as many of the available amateur bands as possible. We have to “use them or lose them” as has been proven in the recent past when the FCC took away half the 1.25m (222MHz band) amateur allocation a few years ago. The ARRL is engaged in a never-ending battle to keep and protect our valuable radio spectrum which is under constant attack from commercial interests. You can help by using as many bands as you can, and by supporting the ARRL Spectrum Defense Fund.

So far, TARC members are using the following bands:

80m-10m (HF), 6m, 2m, 1.25m, 70cm, and now 33cm. The new microwave backbone passing through Taos will use the 5.6GHz amateur band.

For a complete, detailed listing of all US amateur bands, see the ARRL Band Plan.

73,
Brian Williams, NB5R

On the Mountain Top This Week...

TaosARC members were busy on both Picuris and San Antonio Mountain this week.  Thursday there were teams on both mountains, and a lot of cross-communication to test the results of the work.

Brian Williams and Greg Medina were leading the work on Picuris.  They were updating the solar grid that powers the joint-use radio facility there.  John Wheatley and Jim Kimmons were on San Antonio Mtn. working on the “76” repeater and attempting to get the Santa Fe linked repeater system up and running.  Unfortunately there is some problem on the receiver side that will require another trip.

John and Jim, expecting a solitary and quiet visit, actually experienced a busy mountain top.  They arrived to find two contracted installers about to put a dish on our tower.  After some careful examination of the photo they had, it was determined that they were supposed to be working on another tower just 20 or so yards away.  They were glad to be caught early.  Then while getting the work done, a surprise visit by a couple of people from the Forest Service showed up.  They were verifying installations and ownership, so there was a short interruption to answer questions.

Here’s a shot from the top of San Antonio Mtn.  Click it to view the high resolution image which can be enlarged again for printing if you want.

View from Picuris

It’s not work to maintain the Picuris repeater.  Not when you get views like these!