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A little bit of an update. Last Saturday Pat KC?ZRY and I W8LM, attended the TECH-NI-CHAT annual meeting. This group has been active in Wichita since 1963. They own the 146.94 and 444.000 repeaters and thanks to a lot of work by other amateurs and a Federal Grant they were able to make repairs and upgrade their site to a new Motorola commercial repeater. They are located on a TV tower in Colwich at over 500 feet. It requires them to pay big dollars for professional climbers. They are the wide coverage repeater in the area.? At the meeting a number of Door prizes were raffled to various members. They have made their way to W?VFW's extravaganza as donations. We now have a brand new ARRL 2020 Handbook as one of our prizes..
We have invited TECH-NI-CHAT to our Extravaganza, to inform us of their offerings, offer membership and fellowship. At the end of the year they will be insolvent as Insurance is the single biggest expense they have and is on going. You may want to consider joining. There is a membership box at Radio Shack. Membership is $25 for the entire family, if hams.

Our raffle prizes have arrived (Yaesu FT70D and NanoVNA) and when making the order, I mentioned they were raffle prizes, Gigaparts, Inc. sent along 2 baseball hats with their logo on them to include in our door prizes.

I am in the process of obtaining additional things for this event.? I do not plan to let it fail because of lack of participation. However I can't do it all by myself.

We have reserved the VFW middle and back room for the Day, The wait staff asked if any extra barmaids will be needed. I expect anyone that attends uses the front Canteen for beverages. Which brings us to Food. There are a number of ways to go, We could even have one ham I know take over the food end of the event. I'm thinking of Chili and also Hot Dogs. Additionally, covered dishes from other members. Cookies or Donuts and such. We WILL be asking for donations to cover the food expenses and such items as paper plates, plastic sporks and napkins.

If anyone wants to head up our "kitchen" please contact me. It can be by donation, or by reimbursement of expenses by collected donations.

Next- Demonstrations - Show and Tell. Would anyone want to demonstrate their passion in Ham Radio. Demonstrations can include kits, Groups you belong to, Go boxes, Antenna's , NovaVNA, HOTSPOTS,? Microwave and such. In the middle room, there is a widescreen TV that I understand can run You Tube type video's via a laptop attachment. if you'd like to use it.? If you have something you'd like to promote contact me w8lm@...

Finally- (Hallelujah) We need someone (Jennifer?) that can register guests, offer memberships (2020 members get 5 free raffle tickets). Give each guest 1 door prize ticket and on the side sell additional raffle tickets $1 each or 6 for $5.? Volunteers please contact me w8lm@...

W?VFW UHF 443.325 PL 162.2? is now operational back on K-LINK it was tested 12/11 about 6pm with a mobile in HILLSBORO who had thought their repeater was no longer part of the node. K-LINK is a private ALLSTAR NODE that is (hopefully for a long time) 24x7x365. NOTE- THERE ARE NO TOUCH TONE COMMANDS FOR USERS. IT IS LOCKED, as it should be. The K-link masters will control it. Remember to ID, you will be heard state wide.

Justin NV8Q and our Jordan K?JWH have been running all over the state taking care of multiple nodes and have invested hundreds of hours. Since W?VFW is just 1 node of many in K-link, they are turning their energies to the rest of the state. K-LINK website is Both Justin and Jordan have full time demanding jobs, and therefore all of us welcome these changes. We know if we ever need technical support we can count on them. Thanks to both.

W?VFW VHF 145.270 PL 103.5 has been a stand alone repeater for last 2-3 years. We have now fixed the internet cabling problems at the VFW and set up a ALLSTAR to work with it. 7-9pm on 12/12 we tested the node with WB2KAO repeater in Rochester, NY. We received good audio reports but was told we had a bit of hum on our audio. We believe it is our PL setting. There is an option for filtering PL or passing it. We have to look into it and not only do some testing...but? educate? members regarding protocol of the repeater now that it has enhanced features. As of now- better things are coming, stay tuned. Except for testing it is local use repeater now.

Since all the work that Justin and Jordan have started, we now have 3 members now retired that live in area. Larry, Pat and Don. We will now be the go to people regarding the repeaters. Hopefully Justin's and Jordan's work is done and Pat, Larry and Don will be filling those big shoes. If you hear Justin and Jordan on the air be sure to thank them for their service.

ALLSTAR LINK is a hardware, software, internet collaboration of Ham Radio operators (and others - as it can be used commercially and GMRS).
In the realm of linking repeaters or any radio, 1st was remote bases in the1960's using phone lines or UHF point to point links. Then ECHOLINK in 2007 and has evolved into digital and things like Dstar, DMR, and Fusion. ALLSTAR is better than Echolink and as good as any of the digital modes. In our case it is ANALOG, but can connect to DIGITAL nodes. Some Digital nodes also have ALLSTAR.

ALLSTAR Link can be accessed by a radio, a computer, a smartphone and even a telephone. At it's heart is VOIP program called ASTERISK it is used for telephone calls over the internet. Even AT&T, VERIZON and COX uses VIOP for their "Clear Digital Telephone SERVICE ... Can you hear me now?"

Here is a scree shot a place to start. this is the MENU of ALLSTAR NODES.. You do not have to be logged in or a registered user to view the entire list. You do not need to request a node either unless you want to be able to access the internet via a radio. Lot's of guys use Baofeng BF888's to do it, making a local hot spot. Any simplex radio will work. even GMRS (Class A CB). The node list is found at: https://web-tpa.allstarlink.org/nodelist/


As you can see it is not necessary to login/sign-up. Across the top, To get to this display click on LISTS & STATS. Select NODES and a screen will show up like this. You can scroll all you want. This list I have a filter- that filter is W0VFW, but the filter could be LAS VEGAS or a node number.
What you need to comprehend as you can see it the various columns and what they mean. User ID is the "Owner" of the NODE. He is the guy that it was assigned to. As you can see the USER ID may not be the NODE ID. The rest of the columns are pretty self explanatory. This is the screen shot of our repeaters. Now all NODES assigned are listed. However some have never been implemented or may not be on the air. That's where the LAST SEEN becomes important. NOTE- Time is UTC, so subtract 6 hours for local time. The time you see in the screen shot, is exactly the time I took the screen shot. Both repeaters are on the ALL STAR NETWORK. You see the one says K-LINK which we know is a closed NETWORK, the other lists the VFW.. So it's whatever the VFW club wants to do with it. in our case you could connect to it from your ALLSTAR NODE..or could anyone else.? We can set up numerous ways.

So go have a look, there are YOU TUBE tutorials for beginners both on operating and building an all star node.? But a good start is to view the NODE LIST and see what is out there.. As a start- go filter "las vegas" and see how many nodes are available to connect to. Just think you can be walking down the "strip" with a HT and telling the guys in Wichita just how much money you won..?? LIFE IS GOOD....

1. For all the advances we've made with the W?VFW repeater on 145.27. We have ran into problems yet again. We discovered at the end of a long day at the VFW attempting to resolve HF noise, we found 145.27 output from the transmitter to the duplexer was over 10:1 SWR. The repeater was immediately taken off the air. Due to the Holiday's? I will not be able to investigate it further till next Friday. Should you wish to drum me out of the VFW, I understand..
2. W?VFW UHF repeater on 443.325 is now back on K-LINK and checks of the transmitter indicate slightly over 25 watts going up the coax to the antenna. Those old Motorola duplesers have 3dD insertion so all seems well there. as the Vertex repeater is advertized as 50 watts.
3. Some work needs to be done with the tower and coax running there. PAt KC?ZWS and I found the coax leaving the tower is routed between the building and a storage shed on the ground. We found that coax when was installed in 2009. It was rigid where it was laying on the ground. That indicated water-moisture has permiated the coax and was frozen as the sun never reaches that area between both buildings. Steps are needed investigate and correct that issue.
4. Wednesday EVERGY removed our service enterance pole to the VFW post along with 3 new pole pigs. It was dark for 3 hours and we found before, during and after? noise levels on HF to remain the same. A walk of the paremeter outside of the VFW indicated no single immediate source of AC-Noise. arcing or interference. WE did not investigate any sources beyone our property. We are however hearing at low noise levels AM broadcast in the static. If anyone on the east side of town is hearing BC interference on 80-40M please contact us. Again I cannot perform any further investigation into the ICOM 718 without replacing the rig with another. That can be done post? next Friday.
5. The ICOM 718 rig in the W?VFW shack is currently outputting 50 watts at 1:1.. I plan on bringing forward a second power-SWR bridge to confirm our measurements last Wednesdy. It is rated for 100 watts. So investigation is required.
6. The 52 crew is planning on TRACKING SANTA CLAUSE on Christmas Eve.. Please participate. 146.520 is exceptionally popular in this area.?
7. Remeber Post 3115 VFW will be open Christmas eve and Christmas day.. THere are a number of Veterans who have no other place to go on those days. Many people go to support them. Should you decide to stop by, feel free to bring something to share, even if only cookies, chips or a Turkey of ham..

?? Merry Christmas,
Larry W8LM

Pat KC?ZRY and I spent a few hours at W?VFW ham station this Sunday.. WWe have tackled and solved the low HF transmitter output. We found that even if having a charger on the new battery, not having a full 13.8 volts on the ICOM 718 reduces it's output. We also tried my ICOM 725 as it has the same power connector and found the same thing.
We also compared the receive on 80 and 40 meters where we are receiving some AM broadcast on certain frequencies 3620KC and 3940KC.. There are 2 checks to do yet.. 1st for me to check with my HF mobile rig in th earea.. and secondly to use a YAESUI FT87 portable HF rig to connect varous points in the receive change. As we go, Open wire feed to 4:1 Balun to coax to patch panel, to LDG antenna Tuner to coax jumper to 600 Watt AMP to coax jumper to radio.. Any point in the chain where there is corrosion or 2 unlike metals, could cause injection of Broadcast Interference.

The 145.27 repeater duplexer was confirmed a problem on the Transmitter side. the transmitter puts out 50 watts but gets knocked down to 20, then 8 then 5 then less than 1 watt on the output. We are looking into duplexer alternatives as we spent a day with guru Harold and his commercial quality test equipment just 2 months ago and it went south again..

With a new repeater coming, maybe new duplexers are in order.... WE will look into it. as soon as possible.

Regarding our Feb 29th event at the VFW.. Does anyone want to put on a display, show and tell or give a short talk.. We could use a cook and be sure to talk it up on the nets in the area. I have fliers if anyone wants one for the bulletin board where they work.

Finally, I have for your cold night reading enjoyment.. November 2018 to January 2020 issues of QST... message me to arrange delivery. email --.w8lm at arrl dot net.



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I KC0FUE will be hosting a Special Event Station in Celebration of my Acceptance to Newman University on January 8-13, 2020. The bands will be 40-23 cm. Some possibly frequencies are: 7.045, 7.070, 7.195, 10.125, 14.045, 14.070, 14.250, 18.138, 21.045, 21.070, 21.324, 24.96, 28.350, 50.045, 50.130, 52.525, 145.17 DMR TG Nationwide, 146.55, 442.250 C4FM, 446.00, and 1294.50. You can send me a QSL direct to my address please include a SASE or LOTW or EQSL. Scheduled time may be 09:00 to 10:15, 11:15 to 15:15, 16:15 to 22:00 for January 8-12, 2020 and after 20:30 January 13, 2020.
Sincerely,
Evert L. Hastie III KC0FUE

Thanks for sharing. I will try and check in to this event.

Due to the weather and other commitments the Special event station will not happen. Sorry for any problems this may causes but I have a lot to do to get ready for school.

145.27 repeater? is back on the air. Not perfect. We are going to replace a funky coax cable from the transmitter to the duplexer as soon as we make it and test it. Mark at Radio shack supplied us with RG-233 double shielded coax.? We have measured 4.4 db loss (50W in >18W out) in the duplexers which we estimate to be 25 years old.
We need to start raising money for new duplexers. Harold has tuned and re-tuned the duplexers twice in the last 6 months. We have no history on them, and sending them out for refurbishment just shipping can cost over $250 and refurbishment is an unknown till be physically get them to Alabama. There is a company who specializes in buy sell refurbish.?????? BTW 443.325 is just fine and alive on K-LINK...

NOW FOR a REAL TREAT-
????????????????????????????????????????????? The ALLSTAR LINK IS WORKING!!!
We are temporarly connected to the Blind Hams talk group, DMR,? D-star Reflector, and Allstar node... all bridged together. We will be "testing" it out for the weekend maybe longer...?

Allstar 50631, DMR Brandmeister 31679, and D-STAR DCS679A.This includes the Blind Hams Digital net, held twice weekly,Thursdays
at 9:00 PM Eastern (8pm local), and Saturdays at 10:00 AM Eastern (9am local). The Allstar and DSTAR bridges to DMR are
provided by KE4DYI. As this is a world-wide, multi-mode bridge, this is not a regional talk group. The servers and equipment for bridging are located in the NYC area.

It is also streaming at:


There is about a 3 second delay if you listen to broadcastify on the internet or your smart phone..

A Local group can also be followed on Facebook - "Visually Inconvenienced Hams"? and "520 crew" ?

W?VFW Monthly Meeting will be January 28th at 7pm. Eyeballs (casual informal gatherings) Before and After.
This meeting will be the 1st meeting with the new regime in power... All have been requested to bathe before coming..

Commerical- Don't have time before coming to the meeting to have dinner? Or are you still hungry or thirsty?
Our famous VFW post 3115? Canteen offers a variety of freshly cooked previously frozen pan pizza's and other tempting snacks.? If you're just thirsty or want to sip on something during the meeting, They also offer a wide range of both cold, hot and adult beverages. All reasonably priced and delivered with a smile.

Return to NETWORK Feed:? The network feed everyone has been listening to on W?VFW 145.27 repeater has been off and on the last 2 weeks. (icing on th e repeater antenna during the past week has caused some de-sense requiring ALLSTAR disconnect and a dose of sunshine) ? The Blind Hams talk group, D-star Reflector, and Allstar node... all bridged together.Allstar 50631, DMR Brandmeister 31679, and D-STAR DCS679A. This includes the Blind Hams Digital net, held twice weekly,Thursdays at 9:00 PM Eastern, and Saturdays at 10:00 AM Eastern. The Allstar and DSTAR bridges to DMR are
provided by KE4DYI. As this is a world-wide, multi-mode bridge, this is not a regional talk group. The servers and equipment for bridging are located in the NYC area. It is also streaming at:?

Also in the News:? Recent W?VFW 145.27 Repairs have included replacing an external 145.27 filter and "Wireman low loss cable P/N CQ106" (38 inches) from the Transmitter to the duplexer with a W8LM home brew? 3/4 wave length of RG-223 double shielded cable. That increased duplexer output from 18 to 28 watts. Or reduced losses from TX to Duplexer output from 4.4 dB to 2.44 dB. Theory being multiple 1/4 waves are required to best match duplexer input.

We interupt this post: The latest news from Facebook is not to believe a thing you read there, EXCEPT there are a few groups worth following:
Visually Inconvenienced Hams ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?? ? ? ? - our own Patricia Hawkins administers this group.
520 Crew?????????????????????????? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?? ???? - you know 1/2 of the smiling faces in the picture from Derby Radio Shack.
Ham Radio For Sale?????? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ??????? - administered by Dave W9WRL
amateur radio newsline??????????????????????????????????????????? - Available in print and a podcast. Many repeater groups transmit this on their repeaters weekly.
BAOFENG AMATEUR RADIO NETWORK (B.A.R.N.)? - Lots of followers mostly beginner hams.
ARRL VHF Contest - N0LD Rover???????????????????????????? - Randy N?LD formally of Rose Hill, now putting OK on the map. Fun reading their adventures.

CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS: Remember Our big? Fundraiser this year is going to be the The 2nd DEAD OF WINTER EXTRAVAGANZA on Febuary 29th. Please contact W8LM before volunteers will be assigned under double secret membership rules subject to fines and censure.

SIGN OFF:? Everyone belonging to this group can receive or post topics. The first time you post, it is delayed pending approval by the moderators, but only the 1st time, in case of hacking. Kind of a verification thing.? If you're looking for help or a part or have a question, feel free to post it here. If you'd like to invite a friend, ham or not. Just have him give a sort reason when he joins to expedite the approval. This group in not limited to members only.

--

Meeting tonight- Weather has been diverted by royal decree. 7PM See you there, much to talk about.
Additional Leap year Day 2nd Dead of Winter Extravaganza Fliers will be available.

ATTENTION ALL ARRL VE EXAMNERS-

We have registered all VE exam sessions for a year. All exams will be held by reservation during the regular monthly meeting every 4th Tuesday at 7pm in 2020.
FROM THE ARRL:
Thank you for registering your exam session(s). Your exam session(s) will be posted to the Find an Amateur Radio License Exam Session page within 5-7 business days.? For immediate responses or questions, please call 860-594-0300 or contact the ARRL VEC.

Thanks,
ARRL VEC
Licensing, Education & Training >>
Volunteer Examiners >>
Register an Amateur Radio License Exam Session >>
ARRL Exam Session Form

The National Weather Service Forecast? for this evening dictates we Cancel the meeting Scheduled for TONIGHT at 7PM..
A certain number of our members travel over 20 miles to our? meetings and few have ice skates..or tutu's to go with the ice skates.

Stay tuned- we will either reschedule the meeting or perhaps offer a meeting on the air. It will be posted when decided upon.

We have "EYEBALLS" informal get togethers at 6-7pm and after the meeting for those who want to stick around etc.?

To me WX does not look bad, but I have a big old 4x4 diesel with brand new oversized Goodyear tires on it.. The base of the antenna on the roof is 7 feet..

Lot's of activity on 146.52 simplex in the evenings especially when the WX is keeping people inside.. or since it's January.. NO MONEY...

It is important we let everyone know in the Wichita Area that we are Hosting our 2nd DEAD of WINTER EXTRAVAGANZA on leap year day FEB 29th

I contacted WARC Grounded Grid people and sent them copy of our flyer on December 15th by email. I expected perhaps a mention in January but absolutely ., for their February Grounded Grid and they must of missed it. So we need to get the word out. They did list all their nets, and their GROUNDED GRID newsletter can be found here, as mine arrived today..


Let's make sure everyone in "earshot" is aware of our event FEBRUARY 29th this year...
As everyone knows, W?VFW group supports all aspects of Ham Radio and groups such as AAMRON who among other things realize the importance of emergency communications.?

If you need a copy of the flyer, it can be found in our files here in the W?VFW groups.io

This Sunday is the Makeup meeting at 1PM.? VFW post 3115.
The VFW Auxiliary is having a Brunch from 8:30 till Noon.

I am planning on going to the Brunch, and thought about the time between the brunch and the Meeting.. I will probably get there for the Brunch 9:30 to 10am... The remainder of the time, 11am to 1pm;? I will bring with me a couple of things for Show and Tell.

#1. My NanoVNA - antenna analyzer plus. Same one as the RAFFLE 2nd prize for our Dead of Winter Extravaganza.
????? a.? Sweep range out of the box is 50kc to 900Mhz. New Firmware allows additional functions including sweep to 1500Mhz.
????? b. These instruments can do more out of the box for about $55 than a 20 year old MFJ-259B that still sells for $259.
????? c. All though imported and inexpensive they are capable of 70 dB range and 0.5ppm accuracy. This is 1 in 10 million!! Good enough for amateur work.
????? d. Enhancements all ready include USB connection to PC's and Android-iphones, Software allowing you to save and print results.
????? e. Future Enhancements include larger display screen, better battery capacity and? even greater range over 2.5Ghz.
?????
#2. My SHARK RF Openspot 2. designed and built in Estonia, North-east Europe. It offers Digital hams wireless connectivity to the internet PLUS Cross Digital Mode connectivity. Perhaps the easiest Hot spot to set up. It looks like a PC mouse. All though there are other Hot Spots, and many are less expensive or do it yourself. The OPENSPOT is a favorite of hams around the country. SHARK RF is now offering another newer more full featured OPENSPOT 3 which we can discuss.




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