Weekly Report @ JSCARC
Whew, hold onto your satellites… JSCARC is radio active in its activities, events, and membership.
During the week ending February 25, we’ve moved mountains and continue our climb upwards to soaring heights.
Bulletin
JSCARC classes are baaaack…
We’re baaaack… providing amateur radio license classes to all JSC center employees and students.
Dr. Bob Scully has taken the instructor lead to kickoff this years first series of Technician licensing training courses beginning today February 21 and lasting approximately 9 weeks. At the end of the course, an FCC license exam will be provided by our team of VE’s, led by KB5PGY at the Gilruth Center.
W5RRR tracking pass with the ISS
Mike, N8MTV, is leading the JSCARC’s efforts to rebuild the W5RRR satellite tracking station as an ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station ) ground station. Through guidance from Ken, N5VHO, the ISS Ham Project Coordinator, Mike successfully captured a downlink pass of a school contact with the ARISS on Feb 15th .
Shack Under Construction
Yep, the W5RRR is still in the midst of a facelift.
Echo-Echo-Echo- Echo…. link!
AB5SS delivers again! John setup a remote echolink station which adds a new capability for W5RRR. At least for now, John has implemented an echolink remote station at his QTH to serve as the W5RRR-R echo link connection to our repeater in support of the weekly W5RRR FM net held on Tuesdays on 146.640 @ 7:00PM. With this new capability, anyone outside of the immediate W5RRR repeater coverage area can participate in our weekly net.
Top Band @ W5RRR
Older amateur operators often refer to 160 meters as the Top Band. It’s the oldest amateur radio band and was the staple of relaible communication in the earliest days of amatuer radio when almost all communications were over relatively short distances. Today, it’s a popular band with high performance especially at sunset through sunrise, provided you have a good large antenna.
Be an Elmer!
With our current membership drive underway, we are expecting to see several new members. If you’re interested in helping elmer a new member into amateur radio, please sign-up.
FLIP OR FLOP (Part 3) – The Furniture Move
KG5HOK and N5FWB led the charge to finish the day with an attempt to move the MCC styled consoles into the shack. Previously placed in holding storage in the ESTA (Energy Systems Test Area) facility (the place where KB5PGY regularly blows up flight assets- in a controlled manner of course…), the club members who just finished disassembling the ham shack console now jumped into 3 trucks and loaded up the truck beds from the ESTA garage. Heavy, heavy, heavy.
FLIP OR FLOP (Part 2) – The satellite console
Part II (The satellite console)
On a drizzly Saturday morning Feb 10, 2018, club members came to the rescue (again) to finish up some reinstallation of electrical/ground cover plates (removed for the previous day’s painting) and the major job to dismantle our famous Apollo vintage metal cabinet which housed our current satellite station.